Not to belittle her plight, but in a way she should be grateful the delay is mechanical related and not weather-related, in which case nothing is due. PurduExpat37's advice is spot on. (And in the last few days large numbers of people were affected by weather in the eastern half of the country.)

I generally have my status number, the OSO number (800-446-7834) and others programmed in my phone, because these things happen (and are more likely to affect us later in the day, given the paucity of alternative flights to book us on as the day progresses).