Revenue Recognition - Significant Contract Liabilities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract balances, liability	$ 14,498	$ 12,878
Loyalty program liability [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract balances, liability	8,568	8,539
Air traffic liability [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract balances, liability	5,930	4,339
American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract balances, liability	14,498	12,878
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] \| Loyalty program liability [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract balances, liability	8,568	8,539
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] \| Air traffic liability [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract balances, liability	$ 5,930	$ 4,339

Amount of obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913815&loc=SL49130531-203044

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913815&loc=SL49130532-203044

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130549-203045

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerLiability
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant