I agree! You should get all the details from the horses mouth. When I went through the AQC scheme several years ago, the hold pool was also massive (over 100) and I was pretty low down in it and I assumed behind the Wings guys. 3 points here..
1. I though the wings guys would get placed first but this turned out not to be the case. It seemed airlines or CTC mixed up who was going to be used. There were definitely more Wings than AQC's but it seemed in proportion.
2. I thought CTC were NOT very good at keeping us updated and they took the position of "if we don't have any news we don't up date you" which I found irritating. As a result, I called often and found them to be very forthcoming with information on size of the hold pool, where I was in it and latest developments. Jo Ward was the contact then and she was great but I don't know if it is still her. So call and get it from the horses mouth if you need to. Why not.
3. I believe CTC try to plan their recruitment around demand and info from partner airlines but, as those in the industry will know, things change very very rapidly. When I was in the pool there was no movement for about 8 months with nothing on the horizon. The horizon was in fact so bleak that I found a job elsewhere and took it despite the kit being worse as were potential terms and conditions with CTC. 2 weeks or so into my type rating the pool almost emptied with demand from Easy etc. Was totally random and very sudden.
Finally Pikey, I'm not sure about a FI rating. I had one already before I did the AQC and found it a fantastic experience and was lucky as I could carry on flying (which I loved) whilst swimming. But even those jobs are hard (but not impossible) to come by these days. I found that the GA experience I had didn't really help with the type rating exactly as the flying is so different and it is so much more about management of situations and running procedures. Where I found the GA stuff really helped was in my capacity and ability to be loaded up with stuff but still have awareness to fly and to take on more. Great experience and great fun but don't think it is necessary is my advice. Hope that helps.
There are definitely rumbles and glimmers of the economy turning, at the very least, stabilizing. The company I am in are even about to think about recruiting again and internally giving people commands so as to be ready when an opportunity shows itself. In fact I think we have just taken on 8 more pilots. So you never know what is round the corner. Good luck!