Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail) Employee in Thousands	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) Employee Aircraft Contract	Jan. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) Employee Aircraft Contract
Floating Rate Debt
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Debt instrument principal amount	$ 2,400,000,000		$ 2,400,000,000
Fixed Rate Debt
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Debt instrument principal amount	111,000,000		111,000,000
Loans And Leases From Non U S Entities
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Debt instrument principal amount	2,500,000,000		2,500,000,000
Tax-exempt special facilities revenue bonds
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Guarantor obligations, maximum exposure	1,900,000,000		1,900,000,000
Operating leases obligations	1,400,000,000		1,400,000,000
Capital leases obligations	$ 316,000,000		$ 316,000,000
Maximum
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Debt instrument, remaining terms (years)			12 years
Maximum | Loans And Leases From Non U S Entities
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Debt instrument, remaining terms (years)			12 years
Maximum | Tax-exempt special facilities revenue bonds
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Debt instrument maturity year			2038
Minimum | Tax-exempt special facilities revenue bonds
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Debt instrument maturity year			2017
Air Line Pilots Association International
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Service contract extended year		Jan. 31, 2019
Professional Airline Flight Control Association
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Service contract extended year	2021
Int'1 Association of Machinists
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Service contract extended year	2021		2021
Number of new contracts extended | Contract	7		7
United Airlines, Inc.
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of employees | Employee	86		86
Percentage of employees represented by various U.S. labor organizations			80.00%
Capital Addition Purchase Commitments | United Airlines, Inc.
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
New aircraft, scheduled delivery date			2024
Capital Addition Purchase Commitments | United Airlines, Inc. | Boeing 737NG
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of aircraft expected to be delivered in the remainder of 2016 | Aircraft	13		13
Capital Addition Purchase Commitments | United Airlines, Inc. | Boeing 777-300ER Aircraft
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of aircraft expected to be delivered in the remainder of 2016 | Aircraft	1		1
Capital Addition Purchase Commitments | United Airlines, Inc. | Boeing 787-9
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of aircraft expected to be delivered in the remainder of 2016 | Aircraft	2		2
Capital Addition Purchase Commitments | United Airlines, Inc. | Embraer E175 Aircraft
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of aircraft expected to be delivered in the remainder of 2016 | Aircraft	9		9
Number of aircraft expected to be assigned immediately prior to each aircraft's delivery | Aircraft	9		9