Thank you Flaps One, very helpful indeed. It confirms that the 'information' (aka excuse) that I was given was utter tripe!
This means that my accusation of DebonAir being unable to meet their own time-table may have even more weight.
The charge that he had the wrong machines for the job, appears to have been a major factor in the failure of the line.
No one imagines that a company fails due to a single cause normally, there will be several.