To follow on BDGERJMN's post...
The Thunderbirds followed the Blues' lead, and elected to keep everyone in place for an additional year.
The Blues have always taken pride in using the oldest jets, so I understand they might not be easy to get combat ready quickly. The Thunderbirds are using really new, low-time Block 52's... I'd guess they could be brought up to speed a bit quicker.
Boola Boola: funny! All joking aside, I know a few of them that have blown through a bunch of Masters Degree and PME work in the past few months.