B. Bonga,
1. Nothing is ever given in writing, all we have is what the FOM says as a guideline but in reality it is not followed unless it is to the company's advantage. The FOM in this case is used as a deceptive document, which is basically what is causing so much grief to people expecting it to be honored.
2. I don't know the delay and quite frankly I doubt anyone knows. But, as little as a couple of months ago, it appeared that the Airbus commands would get back on track as early as the end of this year. That prophesy appears to be wrong now. If I would guess, taking into account the arrival of the A380's, the recruiting difficulties (or at least recruiting those who are more willing to accept delays), the 'hints' of delays, the 2 year freeze for the poor bastards who have chosen the A380 right seat (then again they were told up front about that one, although I predict the company will come up with some excuse to keep them in the right seat well beyond 2 years after they switched fleets).... yes i'm cynical now.......... I would estimate most Airbus upgrades to be around 4 years for the foreseeable future. That is not that bad as long as that is what you are expecting prior to your arrival. It is just sad that it has come to that, when there was no need for any delays whatsoever.
3. It is easy to crew the arriving A380's and 777's if the company had any inclination towards a normal career progression for pilots. If they ran out of F/O's approaching 3 years, then certainly DEC's would be an option. Unfortunately, it is not the lack of 'upgradeable' F/O's that has motivated the insane DEC policy, so don't expect that to change. $$$$ is all that counts.