While this is plausible for aircraft in general, in the case of the 737 Max it clearly isn't true. Boeing would have been better off not killing hundreds of passengers and losing $20B.
The 787 cost $32B to develop. So the jury might actually be out on whether a new clean-sheet aircraft would've been more disastrous, given that its rollout was not very smooth either.
I am just saying that the economic incentives are not aligned so that a decision other than the 737MAX would've been the prudent, competitive move.
