Document and Entity Information - $ / shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Document type	10-Q
Amendment flag	false
Document period end date	Sep. 30, 2015
Document fiscal year focus	2015
Document fiscal period focus	Q3
Entity registrant name	DELTA AIR LINES INC /DE/
Entity central index key	0000027904
Current fiscal year end date	--12-31
Entity filer category	Large Accelerated Filer
Common stock, par value per share (in usd per share)	$ 0.0001	$ 0.0001
Entity common stock, shares outstanding	786,473,621