Special Charges - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013 Attendant	Jun. 30, 2014 Venezuelan bolívar fuerte	Jun. 30, 2013 Temporarily grounded Boeing 787 aircraft	Jun. 30, 2013 Temporarily grounded Boeing 787 aircraft	Jun. 30, 2014 Permanently grounded Embraer ERJ 135 aircraft Aircraft	Jun. 30, 2014 Permanently grounded Embraer ERJ 135 aircraft	Jun. 30, 2014 Cleveland Weighted Average
Special Charges [Line Items]
Costs associated with aircraft						$ 7	$ 18	$ 66	$ 66
Number of leased aircraft								21
Lease expiry year								2018
Number of aircraft in operation								9
Capacity purchase agreement contract expiration date								Fourth quarter of 2014
Severance and benefits	38		52	14
Percentage of flight reductions in average daily departures from Cleveland										60.00%
Impairment of assets held for disposal	32		33
Losses on sale of assets and other special (gains) losses, net	16		19	(3)
Venezuela local currency loss		21	21
Unrestricted cash balance held as Venezuelan bolivars					100
Number of flight attendants voluntarily on leave				1,300
Gain related to contract termination				5
Loss on sale of asset				(2)
Accrual severance and medical costs	$ 82		$ 82	$ 38
Severance-related accrual expected payment date			2015