Originally Posted by
Mookiesurfs
Boeing wanted an all new airplane instead of the Max. Unfortunately, fuel was expensive at the time and airlines insisted on a quicker fuel saving solution. Hence, the Max. Plenty of blame to go around, but airlines drove the decision for the Max instead of an all new aircraft.
More to it than that. Before the MAX announcement, in fact even at the time of it, Boeing was still trying to sort out the 787 development s**tshow. Until it had got the 787 flying and the production problems resolved, done the postmortem and learned the lessons, Boeing was not in the position to develop an all new aircraft, but leaving it that long to announce/start on a program would have lost major 737 customers to Airbus. Also, an all new aircraft would have to compete with the 320neo without any advantage of common type-rating at existing 737 customers.
Boeing found themselves in a corner where the only way out was a re-engined 737, given that they made a hash of doing that it's probably for the best that they didn't try for a complete new aircraft. Boeing weren't put in the corner by anyone else though, it was of their own making with the 787 debacle one of the primary causes.