Delta Air Lines Captain Malik Sinegal just turned a childhood promise into a once‑in‑a‑lifetime moment for the grandfather who raised him.

On a Thanksgiving week flight, Sinegal secretly arranged to be in the cockpit when his grandfather, Albert Partman, boarded, finally flying the man who once scraped together money for a home flight simulator so his grandson could chase an unlikely dream.​​

As Partman settled into his seat, he had no idea the man piloting his flight was also the little boy who used to sit beside him with big dreams. When the surprise was revealed, Partman said he was stunned and overjoyed.

"I'm really surprised by it," Partman said to CBS News through tears. "I can't be more happy for him and for me too." 

For Sinegal, the flight was about more than bragging rights — it was a public thank‑you to the man who believed in him when money was tight, and the odds were long.​​

"To finally give that dream back to them and to show them that it paid off and thank you for believing in me — it means a lot to me," Sinegal said to CBS. "It's just a full circle moment, and I finally get to share something I love with him, for the first time."

Sinegal also published a touching post on Instagram documenting the sweet moment. In one of the slides, he wrote a letter to his grandfather thanking him and sharing how he wished “momma could be here with us.”

The moment hit during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, with tens of millions of Americans on the move for Thanksgiving, but this full flight felt more like a family reunion. Sinegal managed to get multiple relatives on board, turning the cabin into a flying celebration for his entire family.​​

That promise has been backed up by serious receipts. Sinegal, a Biloxi, Mississippi, native and Delta State University graduate, made history in 2020 as the youngest African American Boeing 777 pilot in the world.