It appears that Boeing has used this "time out" to...do nothing. They are in more or less exactly the same situation they were in over a year ago. This looks like GM in the late 1970's.
> Boeing agreed to deliver the first 747 to Pan Am by the end of 1969. The delivery date left 28 months to design the aircraft, which was two-thirds of the normal time.
surely they can do a ground up design in under 5 years?
It is legitimately very difficult to make a plane as cheap and efficient as airlines want, and as safe and (relatively) quiet as regulators want. Boeing and Airbus are not a duopoly because of a lack of attempts. And even they screw up; the 747-8 and A380 turned out to be duds because they were too hard to fill and four engines needs more fuel than two.
But it is also true that what is going on inside Boeing is not exactly visible to people outside of Boeing. Further, ripping out a previous process and replacing it doesn't really generate externally visible signs, typically it is visible by better results.