Originally Posted by Sam Drucker

Although not typical to delay this long, it does happen. NWA first ordered the A330's (along with A340's) in the late 80's. They cancelled the A340 order shortly before they were due for delivery, when they were on the brink of bankruptcy around 1993 (and paid some hefty penalties.) They kept deferring the A330 order until they finally started taking the planes around 2003, about 14-15 years after they initially ordered them.