Yeah around this time (5:35pm EST), all NA/EU servers are probably packed to the brim. EU is still in primetime and NAs are getting home from work if they hold the standard 9-5 job. However, EU servers will start opening soon because they'll be heading to bed. Good luck getting on any NA server tonight though.
For your friend, honestly his best bet would be to make a new character in the morning when he wakes up, before he goes to work. Since most NAs will be at either work or school, the servers will be wide open. Or, you can tell him to just wait until SE boosts all the servers and adds the new ones early next week (you did tell him about that, right?).