Reply #165: While it is true that no one here knows exactly what was done...

[Trekologer]

...here's what could have been done.

Southwest flies exclusively Boeing 737 aircraft, which are 6 abreast: 3 seats, aisle, 3 seats. There were two adults and four children. The sensible seating arrangement is adult on the aisle with two children in the neighboring seats (center, window). With this arrangement, it shouldn't be unreasonable to expect that the adults could prevent the children from leaving their seats when not appropriate.

Now, they don't put the seatbelt sign on for show. And the passengers are also required to follow the instructions of the crew. As others have pointed out, anyone moving in the cabin could be a potential safety hazard should the plane hit an air pocket, turbulence, or worse, not just for themselves but for other passengers as well. It would be irresponsible for the airline to allow such behavior to continue.

I looked into this story and none of the news sources reported which children were the disruptive ones. However, the mother did admit that they were not under control. What the OP does leave out is that Southwest not refunded the tickets for the second leg of the trip, but they also are paying the family for the tickets on the other airline. Now that doesn't make the airline seem as bad anymore, does it?