Dickinson learned to fly recreationally in Florida in the 1990s and now holds an airline transport pilot's licence. He regularly flew Boeing 757s in his role as captain for the now-defunct British charter airline Astraeus, which, from 16 September 2010, employed him as Marketing Director. One of his key roles in that position was to promote Astraeus' services by increasing their number of videos, leading to the Civil Aviation Authority releasing a video featuring Dickinson on aircraft loading safety in June 2011.