Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements - Financial Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on Recurring Basis (Details) - Measured on a Recurring Basis - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 1,848	$ 1,694
Restricted cash	103	105
Equity securities	263	249
Enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETC)	16	18
Avianca Holdings S.A. (AVH) Derivative Assets	14	11
Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	1,848	1,694
Restricted cash	103	105
Equity securities	263	249
Enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETC)	0	0
Avianca Holdings S.A. (AVH) Derivative Assets	0	0
Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Restricted cash	0	0
Equity securities	0	0
Enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETC)	0	0
Avianca Holdings S.A. (AVH) Derivative Assets	0	0
Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Restricted cash	0	0
Equity securities	0	0
Enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETC)	16	18
Avianca Holdings S.A. (AVH) Derivative Assets	14	11
Corporate debt
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	1,014	1,023
Corporate debt | Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Corporate debt | Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	1,014	1,023
Corporate debt | Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Asset-backed securities
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	745	746
Asset-backed securities | Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Asset-backed securities | Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	745	746
Asset-backed securities | Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
U.S. government and agency notes
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	108	108
U.S. government and agency notes | Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
U.S. government and agency notes | Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	108	108
U.S. government and agency notes | Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Certificates of deposit placed through an account registry service (CDARS)
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	45	75
Certificates of deposit placed through an account registry service (CDARS) | Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Certificates of deposit placed through an account registry service (CDARS) | Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	45	75
Certificates of deposit placed through an account registry service (CDARS) | Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Other fixed-income securities
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	118	116
Other fixed-income securities | Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Other fixed-income securities | Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	118	116
Other fixed-income securities | Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Other investments measured at net asset value (NAV)
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	189	188
Other investments measured at net asset value (NAV) | Level 1
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Other investments measured at net asset value (NAV) | Level 2
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	0	0
Other investments measured at net asset value (NAV) | Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Short-term investments	$ 0	$ 0