Lee Carlson and his family thought it was an April Fool's joke when they were told Aloha Airlines' last flight was Monday night.

"They knew we were leaving on April 1 so we thought they were starting early on the joke," said Carlson and his wife, Tracy, talking together. "Then we checked the news and found it was true, so here we are."

The Carlsons were among hundreds of Aloha Airlines passengers converting tickets from the now-defunct airline into flights on Hawaiian Airlines early this morning. Hawaiian added 6,000 interisland seats to accommodate stranded passengers and is also allowing Aloha passengers to fly standby on Mainland flights for free. They can also buy guaranteed seats on Hawaiian and other airlines.

"Thank you Hawaiian," said Regina Jones of San Diego, who has been vacationing on O'ahu the past week but only learned about Aloha shutting down through media reports and word of mouth. "Hawaiian is at least trying to help out. Our travel agent didn't call us, Aloha didn't contact us ... nothing.

"Right now we're hoping just to get home. We came yesterday and couldn't get on. We've been here since 3 this morning waiting. The whole ordeal hasn't left me with a lot of faith in airlines."

Blaine Miyasato, vice president of customer relations for Hawaiian, said dozens of its employees volunteered to come in early this morning to help with the expected crush of Aloha passengers who've had to make alternative travel plans.

"We're not trying to add to the stress so we've tried to be prepared this morning and set up shop for west coast and Mainland travelers at the former Aloha terminal," Miyasato said.

"It's a difficult time. In this industry we've all had our ups and downs, but we've worked alongside Aloha Airlines for many years. In this business they're like family and our hearts go out to the Aloha employees."

The Hawaiian terminal was relatively calm this morning. Hawaiian employees passed out forms to passengers in line to speed up the process, and Miyasato is urging ticketed passengers on Hawaiian to use online check-in at hawaiianairlines.com to speed up lines.

"It'll help cut down the time in line if people check in online," he said. "You can tell us how many bags you have, pay any fees, get your seat assignment. ... The only thing when you come in is get your bag tags."