OREANDA-NEWS. Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) has named Kevin Shinkle senior vice president and Chief Communications Officer, effective May 7, 2014.

Delta Air Lines and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 370 destinations on six continents.

Shinkle, 48, joins Delta from the executive ranks of the Associated Press where he began in 2008 as assistant business editor directing financial markets coverage. He held positions of increasing responsibility at the Associated Press, most recently serving as business editor, managing coverage of business and finance worldwide with a team of approximately 70 editors and reporters in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

At Delta, Shinkle will serve as a member of the Corporate Leadership Team reporting to CEO Richard Anderson and lead a team of professional communicators responsible for global internal, external and cross-divisional communications. Shinkle replaces Ned Walker who announced in January 2014 his intention to retire in the June quarter.

"From our first meeting, Kevin struck me as a natural fit for the Delta culture," Anderson said. "Not only is he a seasoned executive and respected leader at one of the world's top global news agencies, Kevin is an expert storyteller and critical thinker. He shares the core values that are so important at our airline and in his work he's shown an ability and willingness to embrace technology to evolve business practices for success in today's world."

"Delta has been fortunate to have Ned's great leadership during a successful, transformational period at our company," Anderson added. "His retirement comes after a 30-year career in the industry and we are appreciative of all he has contributed to Delta's success over more than five years."

Under Shinkle's leadership, the AP business staff was honored by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for breaking news coverage and explanatory and feature writing.  Prior to that, he was business editor at The Star-Ledger newspaper in Newark, N.J. During his tenure the Business Section was a five-time winner of SABEW's top award for general excellence and won a National Headliner Award. Shinkle also was a reporter at Bloomberg News, The Tampa Tribune and The Chapel Hill Newspaper.

Shinkle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Theory and History from Hillsdale College. He also is a member of the Board of Governors for SABEW. Shinkle and his family will relocate to Atlanta.