Do airlines always suffer from crashes?

We examine the impact of aviation disasters on the stock prices of the crash airlines and their rival airlines. Results show that the crash airlines experience deeper negative abnormal returns as the degree of fatality increases. The stock prices of the rival airlines also suffer in large-scale disasters but benefit from the disasters when the fatality is minor. ► We explore the impact of fatality caused by aviation disasters on the equity performance of airlines. ► Crash airlines experience deeper negative abnormal returns than their rivals as fatality increases. ► Non-crash airlines also suffer in large-scale disasters. ► In minor-fatality disasters non-crash airlines benefit from such events.