Unlike many other types of delay, cancellation, or denied boarding, The FAA does not require airlines to provide conpensation of any kind for mechanical delays, regardless of cause. The theory being that they do not want potential compensation liabilities to enter into an airline's decision to fix a potentially life-threatening problem. Any compensation in these cases including meal/hotel vouchers are given purely at the discretion and goodwill of the individual airline.

That said, I have heard stories from commuting friends that curiously, certain flights between SFO-LAX have almost daily "mechanical" cancellations.

[This message has been edited by Leisuremiles (edited 06-25-2002).]