Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Fights to Keep His Pilot’s Job

While Bruce Dickinson may be always at the ready to sing about the 'Flight Of Icarus' with metal gods Iron Maiden, he may not be flying major aircraft anytime soon. The legendary frontman and well-known jumbo jet pilot is currently grounded due to the collapse of Astraeus Airlines.

Dickinson, age 53, has worked for the commercial airline for five years now as a senor pilot, but sadly, business ain't what it used to be! The airline has been ordered by the powers that be to cease operations immediately. Its struggles are apparently due to '"lower-than-expected levels of business" during the summer months and a lack of contracts set for wintertime. The company also cited some "extremely bad luck with a number of technical issues" as helping lead to their downfall.

However, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and apparently Mr. Dickinson has plans to try and rescue the failed airline. In fact, he's actually looking into buying the company's certificate of operation and rebuilding things from the ground up. "I’m already working on a plan to try to save Astraeus" he said, "or at least create a new business with new jobs for my friends and former colleagues at Astraeus. This is a serious plan involving people who are very good at their jobs."

Bruce's piloting career took on a life of it's own during Iron Maiden's World Tour of 2008, when he manned a Boeing 757 airliner carrying the band, crew, families and their gear through India, Australia, Japan, USA, Canada, Mexico and South America. The landmark jaunt was captured for all to see in the documentary 'Flight 666'.