Music

Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson loses his job as an airline pilot

by Tyler Munro

Bruce Dickinson was busy flying 250 passengers from Saudi Arabia back to England when he learned he’d soon have to look for another piloting gig, because while the Iron Maiden singer has recently been diving deeper into his part-time passion as an airline pilot, the Daily Mail reports today that Astraeus Airlines, who he flew for, has closed its doors.

The charter airline mostly helped out larger carriers when they were short on planes or pilots, but the company cites “lower-than-expected levels of business” during the summer and a lack of contracts for the coming winter as its reasons for closing down. Astraeus also blames their immediate cease on “some extremely bad luck with a number of technical issues.”

A senior pilot for the airline, Dickinson also acted as its marketing director. The Iron Maiden singer often flew passengers back home from conflict hit countries, like in 2006 when he flew passengers back from Lebanon during an Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Astraeus famously lent Dickinson a plane for Iron Maiden’s 2008 “Somewhere Back In Time” tour, which the band subsequently named “Ed Force One” after their iconic mascot.

Though it’s never safe to assume, we’d wager with confidence that though he’s now unemployed as a pilot, Dickinson’s day-job means his financial future is more than secure. And, if he’s lucky, maybe someone will give him a flight simulator for Christmas. Rumour has it they can be pretty authentic.