Wideroe and Norway in general
 

Hi everybody.

My gf is about to secure a job in Norway. Which leaves me with some questions about the pilot market here. Language is learnable, manageable only by myself so no real questions here - do it or don't I guess. I know pay and conditions are generally very good, but what bothers me is the age problem. I am a late starter, in modular training, and from what I understand this is uncommon up there. I did not talk to pilots yet, but to several people of other professions and they told me that it is very common to select a career track already when choosing your highschool (technical, business, arts...even aviation related ones!). Is it correct to equal that into "early bird or no worm"?

This does not really sound too positive for a two-time career changer and self improver. Can anybody working in Norway tell me his/her insight and experiences with this, generally speaking? I am in my 30s now, and might at worst case scratch 40 when reaching the employable hours level.

Which leads to the next question: operators. At my age, making a steady jet gig is not a given (would be nice though). I am actually directing my career more towards prop businesses. Wideroe of course is a big player here, steady jobs and exciting flying environment. Are they among the companies that would employ a modular late starter? Do they prefer graduates from certain schools or TR courses? Any other operators I should look into given my circumstance?

Last one: Medical. Would my Gatwick Class 1 do or do I need a Norwegian initial when entering their job market? Or do they do company medicals? They are not an EU country, so whats the procedure here?

Many thanks already for reading!

If you can speak Flemish, learning the language is not a problem.
Your profile says you age is 31, so it should not be a problem at all.
Modular training is quite common in Norway, so don't worry about that either.
Hours on a Dash8 is probably an advantage, but as far as I know Widerøe still provide type rating at no cost if you pass their screening.
A class 1 medical from England is no problem, and subsequent medicals will be done by doctors approved by the Norwegian CAA.
Norway is a member of EEC, so work permit is not needed for you.
I'm not sure how many hours they require now, it used to be 800 hours in the old days.

You do not specify how many hours you have, but in summary your possibilities are good if you can learn the language.

I don't work for Widerøe, and don't know their current requirements, or their current need for pilots.

Hi, I was away for a holiday so I am a bit late answering you. Thank you for the encouraging words. :)

Regarding age I recently had a financial setback so my plans of shortcutting full time in US or UK are dumped for now. I simply cannot tell if I will be with ATPL and a stack of hours by 33 or by 38. Take worst case and add a first stepping Stone job and there I Might be scratchings at 40... But whatever. Time will tell.