who holds the PFAW

If I register a limited company, do I apply for the PFAW for me as the pilot or on behalf of the Limited Company? My thoughts are that if the Limited Company ceased to trade then the PFAW is lost?

Many thanks,

Darren

Hi Darren
It is entirely up to you. Some people, like myself register as the company, others prefer to register as a "trading as" or in their own name.
From my point of view, the advantage is that I can add or remove pilots within the company to operate under my permission. I think you could probably do that as a sole trader as well though. I think the CAA would be fairly flexible and allow you to change the name on the PfAW if you ceased to trade in that name.
Elliott

Hi Darren,

The only thing I would add to Elliott's response is to clearly distinguish between the Operator and the Pilot in your Ops Manual. As you say, the Operator holds the PFAW whereas the pilot flies for the Operator. If you apply for the PFAW as an individual and you are also the pilot then this distinction does not really exist in practice but must still be made in the Ops Manual. It is a good idea to define the Operator at the outset. If it is a company then DroneCo Ltd is the Operator. If the Operator is an individual then Mr Bloggs trading as DroneCo is the Operator and it is probably best to refer to DroneCo as the Operator to make the distinction with Mr Bloggs who is a pilot who holds a qualification acceptable to the CAA.

The analogy with airlines is that Easyjet is the Operator who holds the permission to operate from the regulator; the pilots fly for Easyjet and hold licences that are acceptable to the regulator.

To give flexibility it is a good idea to make all requirements for pilots and other staff general ie. not specific to Mr Bloggs but applicable to anyone who is in that role. This allows you to bring in other suitably qualified staff down the line should you wish to do so.

Hope that helps,

Whispercam Training Team