And nobody seems to have paid much attention to the Al Jazeera exposé on the 737 NG where Boeing did this and much worse installing substandard "conforming" structural parts on the 737 post-classic NG series pre-MAX. These weakened planes are still flying around. Some will say "There's no problem. It's worked so far." Bzzzt, wrong. Around 90 people have already died due fuselage breakups where 737 classic fuselages survived similar stress in a number of incidents, including one where the Obama White House directed the DOJ to lie about the conclusions in Boeing's favor before the NTSB completed its investigation.