This method of manpower management, whereby you turn off the aircrew recruiting tap and place those in on mega holds will be a long term disaster for the RAF. The service will end up with a 4-5 year plug of over-aged, inexperienced aircrew who will be a significant problem in career management terms.
The RAF should have dismissed the majority of the pipeline and kept the recruiting open, albeit only a trickle. The service would then have maintained a steady stream of 18-24 year olds at the base of the pyramid. As it is the base will be 28-32 year olds at a minimum. Where will the future seniors come from? The 100 year experiment may have dealt itself a fatal blow.
The RN kept the tap open as they learned this lesson in the early '90s.