Fred4000,
To clarify some of your points.
Noone has left NZ so far without knowing which airline they would go to so I don't know where you got your ' few weeks before advanced training' from. Also, the white tail cadets have all been back paid the allowance by the respective airline who picked them up.
I can't honestly believe that you would think easyjet would be so tight arsed as to not select cadets before hand to save themselves money. Perhaps you should have some more faith in your prospective employer.
The reason people have been picked up later is probably for one of 2 reasons:
1. The airlines saw their training records and liked what they saw (I'm guessing at this)
2. Operational requirements of the airlines.
As far as I'm aware, TC and easyjet have contracts for a minimum number of cadets per year but this is not set in stone as I think TC took 11 or 12 in the first year alone, double what they said they would.
Finally, you are aware that CTC, easyJet and TC will be reading this thread don't you? I don't think you will be doing yourself too many favours.
Best of luck out there!