@Lizzie Thanks for your response. The idea may not have been to give preferential treatment to high-volume hosts, but that is, in fact, how it would function. Theory vs reality.
It would create a sub-class of Superhosts who don't get the same benefits as others, which is called discrimination.
Personally I've never cancelled a reservation at all. As others have said, there is the extenuating circumstances policy which covers cancellations made for quite valid reasons, at least what Airbnb considers valid reasons.
25, 50, 100, any actual number still favors higher-volume hosts. A % would be more fair, as @Huma first suggested.
I have no bone to pick with higher volume hosts being given some special perks, after all, they are more valuable to Airbnb in terms of the $ they generate. But those perks should be separate from any policy that affects all hosts, or in this case, Superhosts. And value can't always be measured in $- hosts who receive consistent 5* reviews, glowing written reviews, and have happy guests, lead to a better perception of the platform, which ultimately results in higher profits all around. Whether that host has hosted 25 guests or 800, they still add equal value in that regard. The guests of the host who's only had 25 guests so far may be the kind of guests who have tons of friends who travel a lot and will tell them all what a great Airbnb experience she had, leading to them all signing up and booking.
What would address the zero cancellation issue more effectively IMO is to make changes to the circumstances under which hosts could cancel penalty-free. For instance, cancelling a reservation that is still 9 months out from check-in date could be allowed- it may be a small inconvenience to the guest, but isn't anything like cancelling someone due to check in next week. Perhaps the host could be required to give the guest $20 or something to pay for the time it takes them to book another place.
And cancelling a reservation where the host has received disturbing messages from the guest that makes them uncomfortable, or the guest simply doesn't respond to messages at all, even after prompting by Airbnb.
It would help if there was a dedicated and well-trained CS team that only dealt with cancellations, rather than hosts just getting the luck of the draw- some CS reps being knowledgable, helpful and understanding, some seemingly not understanding the issue at all and closing the conversation before there is any resolution apart from "Because we said so".
Really, @Lizzie, I think the cancellation issue isn't a biggie- hosts would prefer to see the outlier review removal addressed, which was promised many months ago and on which there has been not a peep from Airbnb. It affects far more hosts than cancellation issues and has led many a great Superhost to lose their status because of one untrue, vengeful, review which Airbnb categorizes as a reflection of the "guest's experience" even if the host has 100 awesomely great reviews.