I think they have probably announced this very early to see if it slows down the trickle or flood (depending on who you talk to) of people leaving and produces more applicants. If it doesn't they still have time to "adjust" the utilities and education allowances to try and make the package more attractive. If suddenly they find themselves with more pilots than they know what to do with
then there will be nothing else coming.
They can increase the utilities by a huge percentage, which looks and sounds really good to new applicants, without costing the company anything because nobody can actually afford to move out of the company housing.