I’m in no position to be certain but I suspect that the new hires could also be either:
1. Pilots who attended Flybe recognised FTOs and were recommended by those FTOs.
2. Pilots who have been working for Flybe in some other capacity ie cabin crew, ops, despatch, engineering etc. In the past Flybe have recruited CPL/MEIR holders from within their own ranks.
When combined with cadets and those that passed the last recruitment and ended up in the pool then that would satisfy their immediate recruitment needs without having to open up the online system again. When the online system does open again successful applicants may well find themselves ‘swimming’ in a recruitment pool for some time before actually starting with the airline.