Do private jet passengers need the CDC Ebola attestation?

The CDC’s new Ebola rule reads like an airline rule. It applies just as much to a private jet bringing you home from London, Cabo or the Bahamas, even if no one aboard has been anywhere near Africa. Since the night of November 3, 2026, every person on every flight into the United States from a foreign country, crew included, must sign a statement before boarding.

The statement takes a minute. The trouble comes from not knowing it exists: under the order, an operator may not board anyone who has not signed. This page sets out who signs, on which flights, how it works on a charter, and the two cases where the answer is not a signature but a different airport or no flight at all.

The short version

• Everyone aboard signs. Passengers, children (a parent signs for them) and the crew, including crew riding along to reposition. One authorized adult can attest for each member of a traveling party.
• On every flight into the US from abroad. Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Europe all count. Flights from Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands do not, because they are US territories.
• The operator collects it and keeps it for 42 days. On a charter, that is the certificated operator flying you, not the broker. It does not go through eAPIS.
• If you were in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 21 days, you cannot board. That includes US citizens, and a stop at a DRC airport counts even if you stayed on the plane.
• Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days changes the airport. US citizens must enter at Washington Dulles, Atlanta or New York JFK, which rules out Teterboro.
• It runs to December 18, 2026 unless the CDC rescinds, changes or extends it.

Does the Ebola attestation apply to private flights?

Yes, explicitly. The CDC’s amended order of October 28, 2026 defines the aircraft it covers this way:

“‘Aircraft’ includes, but is not limited to, commercial, general aviation, cargo, and private aircraft destined for the United States from a foreign country.”

The CDC’s FAQ for airlines repeats it: the order “applies to all flights departing for the United States, including commercial flights, general aviation, cargo, and private aircraft.” The duty falls on the “aircraft operator”, which the order defines as “an individual or organization causing or authorizing the operation of an aircraft”. On a charter, that is the certificated operator flying the trip. On an owner’s own flight, it is the owner.

The first order, of October 22, covered all air travelers. The amended order of October 28 clarified that this includes crew, on passenger and cargo aircraft, and crew positioning on a flight without operating it (traveling “deadhead”).

Which flights need it?

Any flight that departs a foreign country for the United States at or after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 3, 2026. The table applies that to the trips this office arranges most often.

Flight	Attestation needed?	Why
London, Paris or Nice to Teterboro	Yes	Departs a foreign country for the US
Nassau, Turks and Caicos, St. Barths or Cabo to the US	Yes	Same; there is no exception for the Caribbean, Mexico or Canada
Toronto to Teterboro, clearing US customs in Canada	Yes	The CDC says the order applies at preclearance airports
San Juan or St. Thomas to Teterboro	No	The CDC says US territories are not foreign countries
Any US domestic flight	No	Not from a foreign country
An empty positioning flight into the US from abroad	Yes, for the crew	The amendment covers crew, operating or not
Abroad to abroad, stopping in the US	Yes	The CDC says the order covers people passing through the US

The table is this office’s reading of the CDC’s order and FAQs, linked under Sources. The order covers air travel only; land border crossings and seaports are outside it.

How do you sign it on a private flight?

The operator gives you the CDC’s form, you sign it, and the operator keeps it. The CDC’s form is called Attachment A, and it carries the OMB control number 0920-1474. It is available as a fillable PDF in English, Spanish and French. The CDC allows four ways to complete it:

1. On paper, signed.
2. Digitally, with an authenticated electronic signature.
3. Electronically, through a checkbox in the operator’s own system, if it shows the full CDC text.
4. Verbally, if the traveler has read the attestation text and an agent asks the question and records the answer in a system that creates a unique record.

The operator “must not board any traveler who has failed to complete and present such an attestation”, in the words of the form. It must keep each attestation for at least 42 days after the flight arrives and hand it over if the US government asks. Travelers do not have to keep a copy.

On a private trip, the practical step is to sign before the return leg, at the hotel or the FBO, so nobody is filling in a form at the aircraft door. Ask whoever arranged the flight to send the form with the trip details.

What if you have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan?

The CDC runs three separate restrictions, and the attestation is the one that catches everyone. The other two depend on where you have been.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo. If you were in the DRC at any time in the 21 days before boarding, you will not be allowed to board a flight to the United States, US citizens included. Connecting through a DRC airport counts, “even if the traveler did not disembark the plane or leave the airport”, in the CDC’s words. Day 0 is the day you leave the DRC; you may board from Day 22.

Uganda or South Sudan. People who are not US citizens or nationals, including green card holders, will not be allowed to enter the United States until 21 days after leaving either country. US citizens and nationals may enter, but only through three designated airports for public health screening: Washington Dulles (IAD), Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (ATL) and New York JFK. The rule names airports, so a private flight carrying such a passenger must arrive at one of the three. JFK takes private jets, with conditions; can a private jet land at JFK or LaGuardia? explains them.

Everywhere else. Sign the attestation and fly as usual. The CDC’s assessment, updated November 9, is that the overall risk to the American public and travelers remains low.

What are the penalties?

A false attestation is a federal crime, and so is refusing to comply. The form cites 18 U.S.C. 1001 for “willfully providing false or misleading information”, which carries criminal fines and imprisonment. For failing to comply, it cites 42 U.S.C. 271 and 42 CFR 71.2, read with the federal sentencing statutes, “providing for fines and/or imprisonment of up to one year”. The form also warns that failure to attest can mean delay, denial of boarding, or denial of boarding on future travel.

How long will the order last?

Until December 18, 2026, unless the CDC rescinds or modifies it first. The order says any extension will depend on “case counts, geographic spread, community-transmission indicators, and containment capacity in affected countries”.

Those numbers have been moving fast. The CDC reports 10,910 confirmed cases and 5,306 confirmed deaths as of November 6, 2026, almost all in the DRC, with cases also confirmed in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and France. It calls the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record. No case linked to it has been reported in the United States. This page will be updated if the order is extended or changed.

How Jake works

The order puts the duty on the aircraft operator, so on a charter it is the operator who collects and keeps the attestations. Jake names that operator in every quote, so you know who will ask you for it. For the customs side of the same return flight, see flying private internationally: customs, eAPIS and CBP.