I am not a lawyer, but I do believe I have read in the 'contract of carriage that the airline specifically does not gaurantee the timeliness of delivery of person or goods. I have to agree with the both the idea that safety is paramount and that not every situation call for 'compensation' I am amazed that someone travelling first class (on someone elses dime and who sounds well paid in the first place) thinks they need to be paid for this. I do also feel that if the airline specifically said, voluntarily, that compensation was coming then I would expect them to follow through on that. I would take whatever came as a treat. I am not sure I think that the compensation should be based on fare paid or class travelled. Everyone was just as inconvenienced by this event and the F class people were at least more comfortable for the wait.