Highlights
Abstract
Keywords
1. Introduction
2. Previous literature
3. Data and methodology
4. Results
5. Concluding comments
Declaration of Competing Interest
References
Abstract
One of the key sub-sectors in the aviation industry includes that of engine manufacturers, who have long led technological advancement and the battle to reduce airline carbon emissions. However, these same companies have been susceptible to a number of issues that have been central to international airlines due to higher costs and competition pressures. When an aviation disaster occurs, there is widespread allocation of blame and responsibility, which has left engine manufacturers exposed until the true cause is identified. This can generate many issues with regards to reputational damage and ability to generate finance. We set out to analyse such interactions over time and region. Our results indicate that engine manufacturers have had to contend with substantial income and financial leverage issues in the aftermath of a major aviation disaster, irrespective of whether they have been identified as a causation factor in the incident itself. Further, we clearly identify that there exists an average one day loss of 1.64% in the immediate aftermath of aviation incidents. Substantial corporate instability is found to persist without the company being in any way responsible for the incident. Shortly thereafter, contagion effects increase as speculation diminishes and more factual evidence arrives. The role of social media is examined as a potential contributory factor.
1. Introduction
In 2018, a record 4.4 billion passengers travelled by air worldwide on 46.1 million flights and the demand for air transport is apparent with almost 82% of all available seats being filled, with 22,000 city pairs connected by direct flights. However the gloss is overshadowed, as there were over 500 fatalities in 2018, which accounted for a fatal accident rate of 0.36 per million flights, or one fatal accident for every 3 million flights, predominantly because of the two 737 Max 8 related accidents, which were subsequently grounded. The previous year had a global fatality rate of 12.2 fatalities per billion passengers, representing the safest year ever on the record for aviation.1,2 Airline safety reputation as perceived by passengers plays a substantial role in airline choices (Siomkos, 2000) and flight choices (Molin, Blangé, Cats, & Chorus, 2017). Fatal accidents in commercial aviation remain rare and the safety of commercial passenger aviation services is of major concern for the travelling public and regulatory agencies. Liu and Zeng (2007) found that demand for air travel is likely to fall as the fatality rate increases. Airline accidents trigger instantaneous activity in the financial markets because of their unanticipated and cataclysmic nature. This type of negative rhetoric has caused sharp reductions in the share price of companies throughout the world, but it significantly impacts the aviation industry when compared to other consortiums of commercial enterprises (Kaplanski & Levy, 2010).