Indebtedness and Leases (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended					0 Months Ended											9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Mar. 12, 2013 tranche	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2013 financing_transaction		Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012		Sep. 30, 2013 Boeing 737-800 Aircraft [Member] aircraft	Mar. 12, 2013 2013-1A/B EETC [Member] [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 2013-1 EETC [Member] Boeing 737-823 Aircraft [Member] aircraft	Sep. 30, 2013 2013-1 EETC [Member] Boeing 777-223 E R Aircraft [Member] aircraft	Sep. 30, 2013 2013-1 EETC [Member] Boeing 777-323 E R Aircraft [Member] aircraft	Jun. 05, 2013 2013-1 C EETC [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 2013-1 C EETC [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Refinancing EETC [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Refinancing EETC [Member] Boeing 737-823 Aircraft [Member] aircraft	Sep. 30, 2013 Refinancing EETC [Member] Boeing 757-223 Aircraft [Member] aircraft	Sep. 30, 2013 Refinancing EETC [Member] Boeing 767-323 E R Aircraft [Member] aircraft	Sep. 30, 2013 Refinancing EETC [Member] Boeing 777-223 E R Aircraft [Member] aircraft	Jul. 31, 2013 2013-2 EETC [Member] [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 10.5% Senior Secured Notes Due 2012 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Principal Not Subject To Compromise [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Principal Subject To Compromise [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Secured Debt, Tax Exempt [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Secured Debt [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Unsecured Debt [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Secured Notes [Member] 7.50% Senior Secured Notes Due 2016 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Secured Notes [Member] 10.5% Senior Secured Notes Due 2012 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Liabilities Subject to Compromise [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Accrued liabilities and other liabilities and deferred credits [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Term Loan [Member]	Aug. 05, 2013 Term Loan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Jun. 27, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Interest Expense [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Payments not made due to Chapter 11 Proceedings																								$ 451,000,000	$ 74,000,000
Deferred rent credit																															95,000,000	307,000,000
Guarantor obligations, maximum exposure, undiscounted																										1,500,000,000	5,200,000,000	842,000,000
Number of tranches in private offering (tranches)	2
2013-1 EETC Amount											664,000,000				120,000,000
2013-1 EETC Class A Interest Rate (percent)	4.00%
2013-1 EETC Class B Interest Rate (percent)	5.625%
Number of Aircraft to be Collateralized (aircraft)												8	1	4				41	14	1	19
2013-1 EETC Class C Interest Rate (percent)																6.125%
Maximum borrowing capacity																																		1,900,000,000		1,000,000,000
Amount outstanding																																	1,900,000,000		0
Prepayment fee (percent)					1.00%
Floor on basis spread (percent)																																	1.00%
Basis spread on variable rate (percent)																																	3.75%		3.50%
Minimum aggregate liquidity prior to merger					1,500,000,000
Minimum aggregate liquidity following the merger					2,000,000,000
TMAT Bonds							216,000,000
Amount of Refinancing EETC to be offered pursuant to Rule 144A																	1,500,000,000
2013-2 EETC Amount																						1,400,000,000
Payments of Debt Extinguishment Costs			54,000,000																																		19,000,000
Premium on Tender to Holders of Existing Financings			21,000,000
Write off of Deferred Debt Issuance Cost			33,000,000
2013-2B/C EETC Amount		785,000,000
2013-2 EETC Interest Rate																						4.95%
Number of aircraft included in sale-leaseback arrangement (aircraft)										25
Number of aircrafts delivered (aircraft)										9
Number of financing transactions with collateral coverage tests (transactions)					3
Debt instrument interest rate (percent)																													7.50%	10.50%
Face amount of debt instrument																														450,000,000
Collateral already posted, aggregate fair value			$ 0	[1]	$ 0	[1]		$ 0	[1]														$ 41,000,000

[1] As of September 30, 2013, the Company had posted cash collateral of an immaterial amount.