Current State and Foreign Tax Expense (Benefit)

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Income taxes special items net.

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- Definition

Income Tax Expense Credit From Elections Under Tax Relief Act Of 2010 And And Recovery Act Of 2008

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Net Operating Losses, Maximum Allowable Utilization

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Non Cash Deferred Tax

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Tax expense (benefit) resulting from Oci allocation.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Tax expenses offsetting through federal income tax relief.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to taxable income (loss) from continuing operations.

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-Glossary Current Tax Expense (or Benefit)

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- Definition

Amount of deferred federal income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to income (loss) from continuing operations.

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- Definition

Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible operating loss carryforwards that are subject to expiration dates.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards.

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-Glossary Alternative Minimum Tax

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- Definition

Amount of deferred tax assets for which it is more likely than not that a tax benefit will not be realized.

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- Definition

Tax year being audited in the income tax examination, in CCYY format.

+ References

No definition available.

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Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

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- Definition

Amount of the difference between reported income tax expense (benefit) and expected income tax expense (benefit) computed by applying the domestic federal statutory income tax rates to pretax income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to increase (decrease) in the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets.

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- Definition

Amount of tax expense (benefit), before reclassification adjustments, related to increase (decrease) in accumulated gain (loss) from derivative instruments designated and qualifying as the effective portion of cash flow hedges and an entity's share of an equity investee's increase (decrease) in deferred hedging gain (loss).

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- Definition

Amount of unrecognized tax benefits pertaining to uncertain tax positions taken in tax returns.

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-Glossary Unrecognized Tax Benefit

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- Definition

Amount of increase (decrease) in the valuation allowance for a specified deferred tax asset.

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Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 09, 2013
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax special items, net				$ 346,000,000aal_IncomeTaxesSpecialItemsNet	$ (324,000,000)aal_IncomeTaxesSpecialItemsNet	$ (569,000,000)aal_IncomeTaxesSpecialItemsNet
Income tax provision (benefit)				330,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	(346,000,000)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	(569,000,000)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Non-cash tax provision on sale of fuel hedging contracts		330,000,000
Non-cash deferred income tax provision	6,000,000aal_NonCashDeferredTax			16,000,000aal_NonCashDeferredTax
State and international tax expense				8,000,000
Tax expenses offsetting by federal income tax benefit resulting from tax relief				24,000,000
Tax expense (benefit) resulting from OCI allocation				330,000,000	(538,000,000)	(569,000,000)
Change in valuation allowance			214,000,000	(1,323,000,000)	717,000,000	839,000,000
Current income tax expense (benefit)				(16,000,000)us-gaap_CurrentIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	(22,000,000)us-gaap_CurrentIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Income tax expense (benefit) from elections under tax relief act of 2010 and and recovery act of 2008 extended by the tax increase prevention act of 2014				(24,000,000)	(22,000,000)
Valuation allowance, deferred tax asset, change in amount				(197,000,000)	602,000,000	263,000,000
Unrecognized federal tax benefit				867,000,000
Federal NOL carryforwards, maximum allowable utilization	9,000,000,000			9,000,000,000			9,000,000,000
Alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards	346,000,000		370,000,000	346,000,000	370,000,000
Valuation allowance	4,816,000,000		5,013,000,000	4,816,000,000	5,013,000,000
Unrecognized tax benefit	6,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits		6,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits	6,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits	6,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits	6,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits
American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax special items, net				342,000,000	(324,000,000)	(569,000,000)
Income tax provision (benefit)				319,000,000	(354,000,000)	(569,000,000)
Non-cash tax provision on sale of fuel hedging contracts		328,000,000		328,000,000
Non-cash deferred income tax provision	6,000,000			14,000,000
State and international tax expense				6,000,000
Tax expenses offsetting by federal income tax benefit resulting from tax relief				29,000,000
Tax expense (benefit) resulting from OCI allocation				328,000,000	(538,000,000)	(569,000,000)
Change in valuation allowance			214,000,000	(660,000,000)	714,000,000	858,000,000
Current income tax expense (benefit)				(23,000,000)	(30,000,000)
Income tax expense (benefit) from elections under tax relief act of 2010 and and recovery act of 2008 extended by the tax increase prevention act of 2014				(29,000,000)	(30,000,000)
Valuation allowance, deferred tax asset, change in amount				69,000,000	155,000,000	282,000,000
Unrecognized federal tax benefit				712,000,000
Federal NOL carryforwards, maximum allowable utilization							9,500,000,000
Alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards	438,000,000		467,000,000	438,000,000	467,000,000
Valuation allowance	5,308,000,000		5,239,000,000	5,308,000,000	5,239,000,000
Unrecognized tax benefit	5,000,000		5,000,000	5,000,000	5,000,000	5,000,000
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
NOL subject to expiration	10,100,000,000			10,100,000,000
Valuation allowance	4,500,000,000			4,500,000,000
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) [Member] \| American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
NOL subject to expiration	10,300,000,000			10,300,000,000
Valuation allowance	5,100,000,000			5,100,000,000
State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
NOL subject to expiration	4,600,000,000			4,600,000,000
Valuation allowance	264,000,000			264,000,000
State and Local Jurisdiction [Member] \| American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
NOL subject to expiration	3,900,000,000			3,900,000,000
Valuation allowance	208,000,000			208,000,000
Available for use in 2015 [Member] \| State and Local Jurisdiction [Member] \| American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
NOL subject to expiration	4,600,000,000			4,600,000,000
Available for use in 2015 [Member] \| Federal [Member] \| American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
NOL subject to expiration	10,100,000,000			10,100,000,000
Minimum [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax examination, year under examination				2004
Minimum [Member] \| American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax examination, year under examination				2004
Maximum [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax examination, year under examination				2013
Maximum [Member] \| American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax examination, year under examination				2013
Fuel Hedging Contracts [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Non-cash tax provision on sale of fuel hedging contracts		330,000,000		330,000,000
Fuel Hedging Contracts [Member] \| American Airlines, Inc. [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Non-cash tax provision on sale of fuel hedging contracts		$ 328,000,000		$ 328,000,000