Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 22, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) component Reporting_Unit $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2018 USD ($)
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.01				$ 0.01				$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Operating lease liabilities		$ 9,129				$ 9,556				$ 9,129	$ 9,556
Operating lease right-of-use assets		8,737				9,151				$ 8,737	9,151
Reclassification from AOCI to retained earnings, tax effect	$ 622
Consolidated reporting unit | Reporting_Unit										1
Goodwill impairment										$ 0
Goodwill		4,091				4,091				4,091	4,091
Indefinite lived intangible assets		1,800				1,900				1,800	1,900
Impairment of intangible assets, indefinite-lived (excluding goodwill)										0
Operating revenues		$ 11,313	$ 11,911	$ 11,960	$ 10,584	$ 10,938	$ 11,559	$ 11,643	$ 10,401	$ 45,768	44,541	$ 42,622
Contract receivables settlement duration										7 days
Advertising expense										$ 129	128	135
Foreign currency gains (losses)										$ (32)	(55)	(4)
Loyalty program [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Contract term										one to seven
Payment term										30 days
Number of revenue components | component										2
Recognition of revenue										$ 3,362
Loyalty revenue - marketing services [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Operating revenues										$ 2,361	$ 2,352	2,124
Air traffic [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Contract term										one year
Recognition of revenue										$ 3,300
American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 1				$ 1				$ 1	$ 1
Operating lease liabilities		$ 9,083				$ 9,496				$ 9,083	$ 9,496
Operating lease right-of-use assets		8,694				9,094				$ 8,694	9,094
Reclassification from AOCI to retained earnings, tax effect	$ 622
Consolidated reporting unit | Reporting_Unit										1
Goodwill impairment										$ 0
Goodwill		4,091				4,091				4,091	4,091
Indefinite lived intangible assets		1,800				1,900				1,800	1,900
Impairment of intangible assets, indefinite-lived (excluding goodwill)										0
Operating revenues		$ 11,312	$ 11,910	$ 11,958	$ 10,581	$ 10,936	$ 11,556	$ 11,640	$ 10,398	$ 45,761	44,530	42,610
Contract receivables settlement duration										7 days
Advertising expense										$ 129	128	135
Foreign currency gains (losses)										$ (32)	(54)	(4)
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] | Loyalty program [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Contract term										one to seven
Payment term										30 days
Number of revenue components | component										2
Recognition of revenue										$ 3,362
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] | Loyalty revenue - marketing services [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Operating revenues										$ 2,361	$ 2,352	2,124
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] | Air traffic [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Contract term										one year
Recognition of revenue										$ 3,300
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Operating lease liabilities													$ 10,000
Operating lease right-of-use assets													10,000
Impact of adoption of ASUs													197
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member] | American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Operating lease liabilities													10,000
Operating lease right-of-use assets													10,000
Impact of adoption of ASUs													197
Retained Earnings [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Reclassification from AOCI to retained earnings, tax effect												622
Retained Earnings [Member] | American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Reclassification from AOCI to retained earnings, tax effect												$ 622
Retained Earnings [Member] | Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Impact of adoption of ASUs													197
Retained Earnings [Member] | Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member] | American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Organization Basis Of Presentation And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Impact of adoption of ASUs													$ 197