Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Nov. 12, 2018
Document And Entity Information
Entity Registrant Name	CPI AEROSTRUCTURES INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000889348
Document Type	10-Q/A
Trading Symbol	CVU
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2018
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	As previously disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by CPI Aerostructures, Inc. (the "Company") on February 7, 2019, the audit committee of the Company's board of directors determined based on the recommendation of management in consultation with CohnReznick LLP, the Company's independent registered public accounting firm, that the Company's previously issued financial statements as of and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, as originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 13, 2018 (the "Original Form 10-Q"), should no longer be relied upon, due to an error that occurred in the Company's billing process and resulted in the overstatement of revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018. As a result, the Company is filing this Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-Q/A ("Amendment") to amend and restate the Original Form 10-Q.
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity's Reporting Status Current	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Non-accelerated Filer
Entity Small Business	true
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		11,727,784
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018