Former Southwest Spokesman Ed Stewart Joins Delta

(MoneyWatch)  Just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in. Former Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart has decided to come back to the industry by joining Delta as Managing Director of External Communications. Seems like a good move for an airline that can certainly use some PR help.

Stewart was with Southwest for years before leaving for Ticketmaster and ultimately the PR firm Fleishman-Hillard. Now he's decided to come back to the airline world where he'll report to Ned Walker, someone Delta wooed from Continental last year.

It's good to see Delta bringing in some heavy hitters with proven track records in the airline world. Delta's PR efforts have never been stellar, though they do seem to have moved beyond the days of spamming press release for every little thing they could find. Both Ned and Ed bring serious credibility. Let's just hope they can clean house and get things in order.