Airbus on Thursday appointed new operational and sales chiefs as part of a management reshuffle following a revamp of its main planemaking business under a new commercial chief executive officer. The world's largest planemaker said Florent Massou would become head of operations and confirmed that Benoit de Saint-Exupery would take over as head of sales, succeeding Christian Scherer who has already been appointed as CEO of the core commercial planemaking business from Jan. 1. Alberto Gutierrez, who until now has been chief operating officer, will remain on the main executive committee with a new role in "special industrial projects" and responsibility for Spain, a sensitive political relationship for Airbus in the wake of industrial tensions and a drop in A400M military orders.