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Special Charges - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) Technician	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Special Charges [Line Items]
Severance and benefits costs	$ 41,000,000		$ 6,000,000	$ 78,000,000	$ 14,000,000
Severance and benefits costs net of tax			4,000,000		9,000,000
Labor agreement costs			10,000,000		$ 110,000,000
Lease maturity year					2029
Cleveland airport lease restructuring					$ 74,000,000
Cleveland airport lease restructuring, net of taxes					47,000,000
(Gains) losses on sale of assets and other special charges	3,000,000		6,000,000	17,000,000	14,000,000
(Gains) losses on sale of assets and other special charges, net of tax	2,000,000		4,000,000	11,000,000	9,000,000
Venezuela local currency loss					8,000,000
Venezuela local currency loss, net of tax					5,000,000
Sale of an affiliate			9,000,000
Sale of an affiliate, net of tax			6,000,000
Accrual severance and benefit	27,000,000		30,000,000	$ 27,000,000	30,000,000
Severance-related accrual expected payment date				2019
Accrual for permanently grounded aircraft	29,000,000		41,000,000	$ 29,000,000	41,000,000
Grounded aircraft related accrual expected payment date				2025
Newark Liberty International Airport
Special Charges [Line Items]
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets			412,000,000
Impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets, net of tax benefits			264,000,000
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Special Charges [Line Items]
Severance and benefits costs	36,000,000			$ 57,000,000
Severance and benefits costs net of tax	23,000,000			37,000,000
Int'l Association of Machinists
Special Charges [Line Items]
Labor agreement costs			10,000,000		110,000,000
Labor agreement costs net of tax			$ 6,000,000		$ 70,000,000
Voluntary early out program | International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Special Charges [Line Items]
Number of positions eliminated | Technician		1,000
Voluntary early out program | International Brotherhood of Teamsters | Maximum
Special Charges [Line Items]
Severance payment per participant		$ 100,000
Management Reorganization Initiative
Special Charges [Line Items]
Severance and benefits costs	5,000,000			21,000,000
Severance and benefits costs net of tax	$ 3,000,000			$ 13,000,000

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