(CNN) – Last week’s winter-weather travel chaos is dragging on like a hangover this week — and the headache is migraine-proportioned for Southwest Airlines and its frustrated passengers on Monday.
Nearly 3,600 flights within, to or from the United States had been canceled as of 3:30 p.m. ET Monday, while nearly 5,400 flights were delayed, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
But Southwest accounts for a whopping share of that. No other US airline has canceled nearly as many flights or as many of its schedules as Southwest.
The Dallas-based airline had canceled more than half of its flights — about 2,650 flights in total — as of 3:30 p.m. Monday, according to FlightAware. Around 300 flights were canceled within half an hour on Monday afternoon.
Customers are loudly complaining on social media about long queues to speak to representatives, problems with lost bags and excessive wait times or busy signals on airline customer service phone lines.
CNN’s Carlos Suarez spoke to frustrated passengers waiting in line at the Southwest ticket counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport. He reports that about 150 customers are waiting in a long line to be rebooked, with the line snaking around the back of the ticket office.
“Disruptions in our network”
Customers encountered long lines at the Southwest counters at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Monday.
WRAL
In a statement to CNN, Southwest Airlines said there are “disruptions to our network as a result of the ongoing impact[of the winter storm]on the entirety of our operations.”
Some of the airports seeing the biggest problem are Denver, Las Vegas, Chicago Midway, Baltimore/Washington, and Dallas Love Field, where Southwest operates.
Calls to Southwest’s customer service attempted by CNN Monday afternoon didn’t go through, so customers couldn’t even queue to speak to a representative. Southwest told CNN it was “fully staffed to take calls.”
The airline also says, “People whose flights have been canceled can request a full refund or receive a flight credit that does not expire.”
Meanwhile, Buffalo International Airport in hard-hit western New York said in its recent tweet that it plans to resume passenger flights Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET.
The temperature at the airport was 19 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7 degrees Celsius) around 3pm ET, with light snow falling on the massive amounts the area has already seen.
What can stranded passengers do?
If you’ve been let down and your efforts to reach a customer service representative are unsuccessful, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights suggests trying an international number.
“The main US airline hotline will be overloaded with rebooking other passengers. To get to an agent quickly, call any of the airline’s dozens of international offices,” said Scott Keyes.
“Agents can process your reservation just like US employees, but there’s virtually no waiting to get through.”
Bad road conditions
Road travel remained treacherous in parts of the US because of extreme winter conditions.
In western Erie County, New York state, emergency driving restrictions were lifted in some communities but remained in place in Buffalo, County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Monday.
“The city of Buffalo is impassable in most areas while mainlines may have one or two lanes for emergency traffic, most minor roads as well as minor roads have not yet been touched,” Poloncarz said.
He adds that the cleared main roads are primarily for life-saving efforts to open up areas around hospitals and nursing homes.
A tough past week
A winter storm that swept across the United States came at an awkward time for travelers who had begun to push Christmas week flight numbers back to pre-pandemic levels.
On Christmas Day, 3,178 flights were canceled and 6,870 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware.
A total of 3,487 flights were canceled on Christmas Eve, according to FlightAware.
Friday was the worst day of this series with 5,934 cancellations, while Thursday saw almost 2,700 cancellations.
This mega-blast of winter weather across the nation’s eastern two-thirds is expected to slow down this week.
More developments to follow in this breaking news.
CNN’s Ross Levitt, Chris Boyette and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this story.