Salute!
Yeah.Mike. but more than technology. A few dollars saved there and now a billion to spend here, looks like.
Face it. The Max is a new plane!! It has aero characteristics that are sufficiently different from the earlier versions that it needed kludges and such to meet the cert requirements. The aero changes would have likely taken lots more test flights and maybe even a new type cert. A lot of the old stuff would not have required new tests and such - seat dimensions, hydraulic systems, electric systems, and more. But that aero thing was the biggie.
Gums sends...