That may be true at the beginning of a hiring cycle or during a brief cycle but is not always so. Pilots are often surprised by calls. Depends on factors we aren't privy to. Desired experience mix and exhaustion of the marine fighter pilot pipeline to name a couple. On the contrary, if you don't apply early then put your app in later they think you wanted to work for another company. They'll think you only put in the app after you failed to get on elsewhere and it will count against you in the interview