Delta pilot making last flight to Atlanta with son as co-pilot

ATLANTA - One of Delta Air Lines' thousands of pilots will call it a career on Thursday when he pulls into a gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport one last time.

For more than three decades, Captain Tom Lake has lived his dreams in the sky.

Between his time in the Air Force and his career as a Delta captain, he has quite literally been on Cloud 9.

"It's surreal that the company that I wanted to work for, I got the opportunity to do it," Lake says.

That will change Thursday as he hangs up his captain's cap after 34 years with the Atlanta-based airline.

"I'll try to keep it together as best I can. I've been thinking about that for a long time and I will be very emotional," Lake said.

His final flight from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Atlanta won't just be bittersweet for him, it will also be pretty special for the guy sitting next to him.

Keeping the tradition of flying in the family 

Several years ago, Lake flew with his son on his first flight with Delta. Now his son will return the favor on his dad's last one.

"It’s just gonna be really something special. It's going to be a moment that I will not forget for the rest of my life," Erik Lake said.

The two have flown together regularly for the last few years. They estimate they've spent 500 to 600 hours together on two different airplanes over six years.

"It was really surreal.  He's sitting there, you know, obviously a professional pilot, but he's still your son," Tom Lake said. "And it was really, really rewarding."

Erik Lake has documented it on social media. Those flights are something that the father-son duo said they'll miss.

"To be able to get to fly with my dad and all that, It's just so special," Erik Lake said.

"It's a lot of fun to watch him grow from a - you know - from a private pilot all the way up to sitting in my cockpit with me," Tom Lake said.

The final flight to Atlanta

The pair expect the final flight, which will land in Atlanta just after 2 p.m., to be pretty emotional.

"I don't cry much. I know my dad doesn't, but there may be a little bit of that coming," Erik Lake said.

Erik Lake will continue in the family business at Delta. 

He tells FOX 5 he plans to now push for a promotion to captain, which he has held off on, so he could continue flying with his dad.