Debt - Components of Long-Term Debt - 2016 Credit Facilities (Detail) - Secured Debt [Member] - USD ($)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016	Apr. 29, 2016
2016 Credit Facilities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Minimum aggregate liquidity required under debt covenant	$ 2,000,000,000
2016 Credit Facilities [Member] \| Term Loan Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument principal amount		$ 1,000,000,000
Long-term debt, net	$ 1,000,000,000
Debt instrument, annual installment repayment, percent of original principal balance	1.00%
Debt instrument, prepayment fee percentage	1.00%
2016 Credit Facilities [Member] \| Term Loan Facility [Member] \| LIBOR [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, variable rate, floor	0.75%
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate	2.75%
2016 Credit Facilities [Member] \| Term Loan Facility [Member] \| Base Rate [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate	1.75%
Credit Facility, Tranche B-2, Citicorp 2013 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of long-term debt	$ 588,000,000
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] \| 2016 Credit Facilities [Member] \| Term Loan Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument principal amount		$ 1,000,000,000
Long-term debt, net	$ 1,000,000,000
Debt instrument, annual installment repayment, percent of original principal balance	1.00%
Debt instrument, prepayment fee percentage	1.00%
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] \| 2016 Credit Facilities [Member] \| Term Loan Facility [Member] \| LIBOR [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, variable rate, floor	0.75%
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate	2.75%
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] \| 2016 Credit Facilities [Member] \| Term Loan Facility [Member] \| Base Rate [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate	1.75%
American Airlines, Inc. [Member] \| Credit Facility, Tranche B-2, Citicorp 2013 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of long-term debt	$ 588,000,000

Debt Instrument, Annual Repayment, Percent of Principal Balance

No definition available.

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- Definition

Debt instrument prepayment fee percentage.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Debt Instrument, Restrictive Covenants, Minimum Aggregate Liquidity, Amount

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Debt Instrument Variable Rate Floor

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Percentage points added to the reference rate to compute the variable rate on the debt instrument.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Face (par) amount of debt instrument at time of issuance.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 55
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930739&loc=d3e28878-108400

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930785&loc=d3e28551-108399

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount, after unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs, of long-term debt. Includes, but not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, debentures, mortgage loans and commercial paper. Excludes capital lease obligations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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- Definition

The cash outflow for debt initially having maturity due after one year or beyond the normal operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3291-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Financing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6513228

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