Jan
not just industry wide, but does the airline that lost the aircraft lose passengers and money after a crash??
of course, i know that they do, but do they suffer really bad?
has an airline ever gone bunkrupt because of a loss of passengers after a crash?
Answer:
I think crash had a big part in Trans World Airline (TWA)'s bankruptcy. They had a huge crash (TWA flight 800) and then they were criticized for having the oldest fleet (based on average) in the industry. A lot of people probably didnt want to fly with them anymore after discovering the average of their fleet.
Answer:
The lawsuits are one thing - but to be honest, loosing face is the major aspect.
The effects of the crash are also determined by the size of the airline.
For example, lets take the ValueJet crash that occur ed in June 1996. The airline was not as large as the legacy carriers in the nation (with at least 10 airlines appearing larger - by number of aircraft or by number of seats served)- but it did have a strong presence on the Eastern Coast of the United States as a LCC. The airline only suffered one major incident, this one crash - and it eventually led to the revelation : that the crash exposed the airline as having taken un-safe risks that led to the crash. In reality - the airline did nothing that was deemed illegal - but something that was deemed "un-safe". Simply put - the crash (and the aftermath - the investigation, it's findings, and the negative press) led to the airline having to cease operations.
Now let's consider another sittuation.
Most of the U.S. Legacy carriers (American Airlines, United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Delta, Continental, US Airways), have had their share of crashes - each time, though - they did see a loss of passengers (in that the negitave press drove passengers to competitors) however, their large sizes were able to keep them flying in that for the most part, each of the abovementioned has niche markets that allow it to sustain operations.
Now, let's look at the interesting conundrum that was Sept.11th. Think about it, only two airlines were affected. Only one brand of aircraft, and yet the indestry as a whole felt the repercussions. All of the legacy carriers (with the exception of American Airlines) entered bankruptcy. All of the carriers were forced to re-organize. That was b/c of one event. So in conclusion, the industry is fragile, and a crash always means losses - losses of life, losses of money and a loss of reputation.
Answer:
It depends on why the plane crashed.
If the airline was at fault, due to bad maintenance, for example, that would affect sales.
If the airline is well-known and already had a good reputation, something like the cargo door incident on United 811 in 1989 in which 9 died, didn't have long-term impact.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airl…
The crew did an excellent job and there were changes made to the closing of cargo doors. Sales slumped Down Under (where the plane was headed) where United was less established but Americans continued to fly an old favorite.
I was with a company that suffered a terrorist bombing of one of its airplanes. The loss of life was devastating but our flights were still full. Security measures today would have prevented it but the public mood was, any plane could have been hit. Our company was not the target. Our nationality was.
If the accident is handled correctly by the airlines and it's not considered a weakness in a well-established airline's policy, than no, it wont have big impact. Smaller, less-known companies have gone under after a crash, or even bad incident.
Answer:
Airlines have insurance. An airline will not lose that much money from a crash.
They will lose credibility, which in turn will cause less sales and that will hurt the airline.
Book Mark it-> del.icio.us | Reddit | Slashdot | Digg | Facebook | Technorati | Google | StumbleUpon | Window Live | Tailrank | Furl | Netscape | Yahoo | BlinkList