Commitment And Contingencies (Aircraft Acquisition Commitments) (Details)	0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Jul. 19, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011
Purchase		199
Lease		221
2011 [Member]
Purchase		6
2011 [Member] | Boeing 737 Family Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		6	[1]
2012 [Member]
Purchase		30
2012 [Member] | Boeing 737 Family Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		28	[1]
2012 [Member] | Boeing 777-300 ER Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		2	[2]
2013 [Member]
Purchase		22
Lease		36
2013 [Member] | Boeing 737 Family Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		15	[1]
Lease		16	[1]
2013 [Member] | Boeing 777-300 ER Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		7	[2]
2013 [Member] | Airbus NEO A320 [Member]
Lease		20
2014 [Member]
Purchase		7
Lease		50
2014 [Member] | Boeing 737 Family Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		5	[1]
Lease		15	[1]
2014 [Member] | Boeing 777-200 ER Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		2	[2]
2014 [Member] | Airbus NEO A320 [Member]
Lease		35
2015 [Member]
Purchase		2
Lease		50
2015 [Member] | Boeing 737 Family Aircraft [Member]
Lease		20	[1]
2015 [Member] | Boeing 777-200 ER Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		2	[2]
2015 [Member] | Airbus NEO A320 [Member]
Lease		30
2016 And Beyond [Member]
Purchase		132
Lease		85
2016 And Beyond [Member] | Boeing 737 Family Aircraft [Member]
Lease		40	[1]
2016 And Beyond [Member] | Boeing 777-200 ER Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		2	[2]
2016 And Beyond [Member] | Airbus NEO [Member]
Purchase		130
2016 And Beyond [Member] | Airbus NEO A320 [Member]
Lease		45
Boeing 737 Family Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		54	[1]
Lease		91	[1]
Boeing 777-200 ER Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		6	[2]
Lease		0	[2]
Boeing 777-300 ER Aircraft [Member]
Purchase		9	[2]
Lease		0	[2]
Airbus NEO A320 [Member]
Purchase	130	0
Lease		130
Airbus NEO [Member]
Purchase		130
Lease		0

[1] As of September 30, 2011, American had elected to purchase nine of the 100 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft using the sale-leaseback financing arranged directly by American with a third party leasing company. These aircraft are therefore reflected as purchases in the above table.

[2] During the third quarter of 2011, the Company exercised rights to acquire an additional Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, scheduled for delivery in 2013, and converted a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft purchase commitment to a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft purchase commitment.