Narrative:

Assigned a trip at XA00 on ready reserve. Unable to return to sleep. On way to airport; reassigned by crew desk to work hawaii turn. No time to prepare and told to report directly to gate. Sat around waiting for another flight attendant and boarding a mess of people angry about aircraft swap. Sat on aircraft while waiting for catering to board. Finally went out 1 flight attendant short on a completely full flight -- long flight time. Arrived in hawaii; 3 flight attendants went illegal. Only 2 replacements found. Juniored into purser. Boarding a mess; flight delayed and oversold. Children sat in exit rows and passenger told 'flight attendants will take care of it on board.' while we accomplished this it added to the stress of everything on board seeing as we finally departed late and understaffed by 2 flight attendants -- completely full flight. This was the most fatiguing flight I've ever worked. Why? Long duty day/flight time; no rest; understaffed -- severely understaffed considering the circumstances; poorly catered adding to stress of the service; no time to prepare poorly handled flight stress and such put on the shoulders of the flight attendants to deal with. Fatigue puts the safety of the flight at risk. Carrier wanted these flights to go without any regard to the safety and well-being of its crew and passengers. Island turns are stressful and fatiguing when you have time to prepare -- never mind being given only 5 minutes. Island turns should be illegal especially under the above circumstances. I am disgusted and utterly exhausted by this experience. My safety was jeopardized and it makes me sick to think that this type of staffing and duty is acceptable.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Reserve Cabin Attendant called in early AM for an international flight is reassigned to a mainland/Hawaii turn. Delays; understaffing; irate passengers; long flight times and more result in a fatigued and distraught reporter.

Narrative: Assigned a trip at XA00 on ready reserve. Unable to return to sleep. On way to airport; reassigned by crew desk to work Hawaii turn. No time to prepare and told to report directly to gate. Sat around waiting for another Flight Attendant and boarding a mess of people angry about aircraft swap. Sat on aircraft while waiting for catering to board. Finally went out 1 Flight Attendant short on a completely full flight -- long flight time. Arrived in Hawaii; 3 Flight Attendants went illegal. Only 2 replacements found. Juniored into purser. Boarding a mess; flight delayed and oversold. Children sat in exit rows and passenger told 'Flight Attendants will take care of it on board.' While we accomplished this it added to the stress of everything on board seeing as we finally departed late and understaffed by 2 Flight Attendants -- completely full flight. This was the most fatiguing flight I've ever worked. Why? Long duty day/flight time; no rest; understaffed -- severely understaffed considering the circumstances; poorly catered adding to stress of the service; no time to prepare poorly handled flight stress and such put on the shoulders of the Flight Attendants to deal with. Fatigue puts the safety of the flight at risk. Carrier wanted these flights to go without any regard to the safety and well-being of its crew and passengers. Island turns are stressful and fatiguing when you have time to prepare -- never mind being given only 5 minutes. Island turns should be illegal especially under the above circumstances. I am disgusted and utterly exhausted by this experience. My safety was jeopardized and it makes me sick to think that this type of staffing and duty is acceptable.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.