Caroline, Of course they exercised them at prices below current market. You don't exercise out-of-the-money stock options.

retired judge has a valid point. There is nothing wrong, per se, in exercising options and immediately selling the shares but in this case, after the sales, the officers were left with zero Air Canada shares or a nominal amount. This is hardly the hallmark of an executive team that has confidence in the companys' future prospects and share price - quite the opposite in fact.

I would also note that many large companies with good governance have defined targets regarding a minimum level of share ownership by officers and directors. Clearly this is not the case with Air Canada.