British pilot Joe Woolings took over the tannoy to make an announcement during a flight last week.
What he said surprised the 200 passengers waiting to take off on a Thomas Cook flight to Tenerife.
Speaking to those assembled over the radio, Mr Woolings made a special revelation – that his parents were on the flight and it would be the first time he had ever flown them.
His message was captured on video and shared to the company’s Twitter page last week, and has since gone viral.
In the clip, Mr Woolings: “The reason I’m out here speaking to you is that it’s a very special day for me. It’s actually my first day as a commercial airline pilot – only joking.
“It’s actually my third anniversary of my first-ever flight.
“But it’s also the first day I’ve been able to take my mum and dad on holiday.
“They are sat in row 17 and, as you can probably tell from my mum’s face, she had no idea I was doing this flight, so what better way to say thank you than by embarrassing them in front of 200 people.
“So a big round of applause to my parents, because if they hadn’t met I wouldn’t be here today.”
He can then be seen walking to hug his parents, both of whom are emotional after his surprise.
Other holidaymakers on the flight cheer as his parents smile and hug their son.
Commenters love the clip, and it has been widely shared online.
One wrote: “Well done young man, very proud parents. Loved his mum’s reaction, tears of joy.”
Another said: “Top man, top pilot, top son”.
And one woman commented: “Ahhh this is lovely, amazing Joe. Ain’t it fabulous. Love, love, love it xx.”
The video of the pilot making a special message for his parents is not the only airport based footage to go viral recently. A clip of a bored passenger passing the time has been widely shared online after the passenger did something unusual.