[joe_the_user]

No one knows better than software engineers how difficult it is to make inherently reliable software and how much complexity can add to the difficulty of making reliable software.

That said, the cost of not using latest fuel efficient airplane would indeed be huge and the actual reliability of modern aircraft is very high and has been increasing over the years in which fuel efficiency also increased.

Sometimes, human can hit on a formula that produces objects that satisfy all the given parameters more fully rather than compromising on any of the requirement. But it's quite plausible that these formulas cannot be milked forever - thus the "Max" may be the point where tradeoffs stop working.

[cco]

Could you clarify your assertion that it would be massively more expensive?

A quick look at the numbers suggests that a 737 MAX 8 is about 10% more efficient on fuel burn compared to a 737 300. That is not "massive" in my book and I'm more than happy to pay a little bit more per ticket if it means a higher safety margin.

Did you mean something older and less efficient than a 737 300?