Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Schedule of information related to derivative contracts

The following table summarizes the risk each type of derivative contract is hedging and the classification of related gains and losses on our Consolidated Statements of Operations:

Derivative Type	Hedged Risk	Classification of Gains and Losses
Fuel hedge contracts	Fluctuations in fuel prices	Aircraft fuel and related taxes
Interest rate contracts	Increases in interest rates	Interest expense, net
Foreign currency exchange contracts	Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates	Passenger revenue

The following table summarizes the accounting treatment of our derivative contracts:

	Impact of Unrealized Gains and Losses
Accounting Designation	Effective Portion	Ineffective Portion
Not designated as hedges	Change in fair value of hedge is recorded in earnings
Designated as cash flow hedges	Market adjustments are recorded in AOCI	Excess, if any, over effective portion of hedge is recorded in non-operating expense
Designated as fair value hedges	Market adjustments are recorded in long-term debt and capital leases	Excess, if any, over effective portion of hedge is recorded in non-operating expense

Summary of property and equipment

The following table summarizes our property and equipment:

		December 31,
(in millions, except for estimated useful life)	Estimated Useful Life	2017			2016
Flight equipment	20-32 years	$	30,688		$	28,135
Ground property and equipment	3-40 years	7,665			6,581
Flight and ground equipment under capital leases	Shorter of lease term or estimated useful life	1,147			1,056
Advance payments for equipment		1,160			1,059
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization(1)		(14,097		)	(12,456		)
Total property and equipment, net		$	26,563		$	24,375

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Includes accumulated amortization for flight and ground equipment under capital leases in the amount of $668 million and $757 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.