India, Aug. 11 -- Southwest Airlines has spent the better part of the past week trying to dig itself out of a full-blown travel mess, canceling more than 750 flights and disrupting thousands of passengers from Dallas to Los Angeles. The wave of cancellations affected some of the carrier's busiest hubs - Dallas Love Field, Denver International, Chicago Midway, Phoenix Sky Harbor, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Los Angeles International, according to Alabama Media Group. Even international routes were caught in the fallout, with flights to and from several foreign destinations also being scrapped.

While the airline has yet to give a single, clear explanation for the mass cancellations, aviation experts say problems of this scale almost never boil...