Yeah, there’s a lot of knock-ons with “just” extending the gear. It would definitely cost a lot more (though still far less than a complete new airframe), which

Yeah, there’s a lot of knock-ons with “just” extending the gear. It would definitely cost a lot more (though still far less than a complete new airframe), which is obviously why Boeing and customers wanted to dodge it. On the other hand, building a plane so aerodynamically unsound that it cratered 346 customers the moment it went out the door is the very textbook definition of “false economy”. One that Boeing itself will be paying for for years to come; even as those who made all the actual decisions gently golden-parachute to the ground.