Not really, IIRC it only shares about 20% common structure with the original 737. Much of the structure is composite and many of the systems are very different from the "classic" 737 series (-100 to -500) No, its a very different aircraft.
AND certification procedures have changed significantly over the years. Originally an aircraft could be stretched, wings significantly redesigned and have unlimited power increases with only the directly effected components requiring a fresh structural analysis. For the last 30 years or so changing primary structure, or power, or systems, by more than a relatively small amount requires a total reanalysis and re-certification. This kept the 747-400 out of Europe for several months while Boeing ticked all the JAA boxes back around 1990.
What surprised me was Boeing's hesitation on grounding the 737MAX aircraft. They grounded the 787 much faster for what was at that stage an equally vague root cause and zero fatalities. In my dealings with them over the years Boeing has always been very responsible and helpful.
Airbus on the other hand often refused to admit that a problem even existed. One operator I worked for had almost daily problems on long A310 flights with pitot head icing that required dropping from cruise altitude to warmer air for half an hour or so. A potentially dangerous situation as well as requiring the loading of extra fuel (and less cargo) to ensure the crew could still arrive at the scheduled arrival airport with at least the legal diversion reserves. All faxes to Airbus had the same reply -
no other operator has this problem. After several years at the operators conference our Engineering Manager threw the question to other operators to find if any others had the problem but were not reporting it. Dozens had the problem and all got the same
no other operator has this problem reply from Airbus. Both JAA and FAA had a presence at the conference and things moved very quickly after that. We had new pitot heads soon after and upgraded to 767-300's within a couple of years. Incidentally this is the exact same problem that was later the root cause of the Air France A330 accident in the Atlantic.
ATR were also difficult to deal with and refused to supply FCOM supplements for kits they installed at the factory until I sent them a draft of the official complaint I was preparing for DGAC and FAA over fraudulent factory log book certifications. Those certifications stated the modifications had been completed but the Service Bulletins required the FCOM supplements be inserted before making the logbook certifications. Funny thing happened - the supplements arrived by email overnight and by DHL a couple of days later.