United PR boss to step down after tumultuous tenure

United Continental's top communications executive is stepping down after leading the airline’s public-relations strategy through a tumultuous two-year tenure and worldwide scandal this April. Jim Olson, senior VP of corporate communications, will resign effective Jan. 8 to pursue other opportunities, he said in a letter to employees. The decision was his own and he wasn’t asked to leave, Megan McCarthy, a United spokeswoman, said Thursday. The airline is searching for his replacement. Olson is leaving after a chaotic period that included a corporate turnaround effort, a battle with activist investors and a media firestorm when a passenger was dragged off a United Express flight in Chicago. <br/>