Employee Benefit Plans - Defined Contribution Plans (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Defined Contribution Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions to defined contribution benefit plans	$ 877	$ 851	$ 766
American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Defined Contribution Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions to defined contribution benefit plans	$ 856	$ 844	$ 761

Amount of cost for defined contribution plan.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 70
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49170846&loc=d3e28014-114942

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanCostRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration