CDC Order Will Require Passenger Attestations on Flights to U.S. Over Democratic Republic of the Congo Presence

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an Order requiring every passenger boarding an international flight to the U.S. to sign an attestation that they have not been present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the 21 days before travel. The requirement takes effect on November 3, 2026, and is scheduled to sunset on December 18, 2026, unless extended.

The obligation falls on aircraft operators and covers both commercial and private flights, including flights that arrive in the U.S. but continue to another final destination. Before boarding, operators must collect the attestation from each passenger, or from an authorized representative acting on the passenger's behalf, and must deny boarding to any passenger who does not provide it. A passenger with a U.S. Government-issued exemption is excepted, such as aircraft transporting passengers with Ebola under CDC authorization, or passengers who hold a CDC exemption in another form.

Operators must retain the signed attestations for at least 42 days after the passenger's arrival in the United States and provide them to the U.S. Government on request. The attestation may be signed on paper or digitally, including by electronic signature; the CDC encourages air carriers to build it into paperless check-in, though a paper copy is sufficient for infrequent private air transportation.

Baker Donelson's alert recommends that commercial air carriers operating under Parts 135, 121, 129 or 380 also update their Conditions of Carriage and websites to tell passengers they must sign the attestation or will not be permitted to board, and post a copy of the attestation online for review.

Non-compliance could result in criminal charges under 42 U.S.C. §§ 270 and 271 and 42 C.F.R. 71.2, in conjunction with 18 U.S.C. §§ 3559 and 3571. The fines run up to $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for organizations, and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

The Order shifts the screening burden onto the carrier at the point of boarding. Because the duty attaches to the operator rather than to the traveller alone, a missing signature becomes the operator's liability, and the refusal to board is something the operator, not a border agency, has to carry out. For scheduled airlines that means a new field in check-in flow; for charter and private operators, which often lack automated check-in, it means a manual step that has to be built into trip handling before the first affected departure.

The recordkeeping term matters as much as the collection itself. Holding signed attestations for at least 42 days after arrival, and producing them on request, turns each flight into a small file that must be indexed and retrievable. Operators serving tail-end legs that continue beyond the U.S. have to apply the same rule, since those flights are covered as well.

The next dated milestones are the November 3, 2026 start and the December 18, 2026 sunset. Whether the Order is extended past that second date is what will determine if this stays a short-term procedure or becomes a standing part of international operations.