Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	6 Months Ended
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	Jun. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of presentation	Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Delta Air Lines, Inc. and our wholly owned subsidiaries and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial information. Consistent with these requirements, this Form 10-Q does not include all the information required by GAAP for complete financial statements. As a result, this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying Notes in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015. Management believes the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements reflect all adjustments, including normal recurring items and restructuring and other items, considered necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim periods presented. Due to seasonal variations in the demand for air travel, the volatility of aircraft fuel prices and other factors, operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of operating results for the entire year.
Recent accounting standards	Recent Accounting Standards Revenue from Contracts with Customers In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)." Under this ASU and subsequently issued amendments, revenue is recognized at the time a good or service is transferred to a customer for the amount of consideration received. Entities may use a full retrospective approach or report the cumulative effect as of the date of adoption. The standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption of the standard is permitted, but not before December 15, 2016. We are currently evaluating how the adoption of the revenue recognition standard will impact our Consolidated Financial Statements. Leases In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)." This standard will require all leases with durations greater than twelve months to be recognized on the balance sheet and is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, although early adoption is permitted. Although we have not completed our assessment, we believe adoption of this standard will have a significant impact on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. However, we do not expect the adoption to change the recognition, measurement or presentation of lease expenses within the Consolidated Statements of Operations or the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Information about our undiscounted future lease payments and the timing of those payments is in Note 7, "Lease Obligations," in our Form 10-K. Equity Method Investments In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-07, "Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323)." This standard eliminates the requirement that when an existing cost method investment qualifies for use of the equity method, an investor must restate its historical financial statements, as if the equity method had been used during all previous periods. Under the new guidance, at the point an investment qualifies for the equity method, any unrealized gain or loss in accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss) ("AOCI") will be recognized through earnings. The standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, although early adoption is permitted. We early adopted this standard during the three months ended March 31, 2016. Although none of our available-for-sale or cost investments qualified for use of the equity method during the first half of 2016, we expect the tender offer for additional capital stock of Grupo Aeroméxico to be completed during 2016, at which point our investment will qualify for the equity method of accounting. As of June 30, 2016, the unrealized gain recorded in AOCI related to our investment in Grupo Aeroméxico was $11 million. Share-Based Compensation In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, "Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718)." This standard makes several modifications to Topic 718 related to the accounting for forfeitures, employer tax withholding on share-based compensation and the financial statement presentation of excess tax benefits or deficiencies. ASU 2016-09 also clarifies the statement of cash flows presentation for certain components of share-based awards. The standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, although early adoption is permitted. We early adopted this standard in the three months ended June 30, 2016. The adoption of this standard results in the recognition of $95 million of previously unrecognized excess tax benefits in deferred income taxes, net and an increase to retained earnings on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of the beginning of the current year and the recognition of $24 million of excess tax benefits to our income tax provision for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016.