John E. "Ned" Walker

John E. "Ned" Walker

John E. "Ned" Walker joined Delta as senior vice president and chief communications officer in October 2008.  He is responsible for external communication, media relations and employee communications throughout Delta’s global system, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. 

Since joining Delta Ned has lead a cross-divisional effort to coordinate various levels of communication to ensure consistent messaging throughout the newly merged company as well as with external audiences. 

Ned joined Delta after a nearly 22 years at Continental Airlines where he served as senior vice president of corporate communications. During his time there, Ned promoted coordinated communications within the airline to establish consistent messaging with employees, shareholders, media and the public.  Ned was a key contributor to Continental's remarkable turnaround in the late 1990s when the airline rose to the top of the industry in employee morale and customer service after two bankruptcies.  

During the final five years of his 21-year career in corporate communications at Continental Airlines, Ned saw Fortune magazine named his carrier the world’s most-admired. Delta also received that distinction in 2011. 

In 1996, Ned was named Employee Communications All-Star by Inside PR and was recognized for helping to transform Continental's once-authoritarian corporate culture into a more employee-friendly environment.  Ned joined Continental in 1987 and was immediately involved in communications as the airline merged with PeopleExpress, New York Air and several commuter airlines.   

Ned began his aviation career with Frontier Horizon, a Frontier Airlines' subsidiary.  He previously was a journalist with The Chicago Tribune-owned KWGN-TV in Denver. 

Ned serves on the Advisory Council of the College of Communications at the University of Texas at Austin.  He was chairman of the visitor relations subcommittee for the Super Bowl XXXVIII Host Committee.  He holds a bachelor's degree in mass communications from the University of Colorado at Boulder.