I took an airline to the small claims court last year, and they settled when it entered the mandatory arbitration phase. They never really had any good reason f

I took an airline to the small claims court last year, and they settled when it entered the mandatory arbitration phase. They never really had any good reason for denying the claim, and the evidence (including emails on the day of cancellation) supported my compensation claim. I think the modus operandi is simply to deny and obfuscate everything. That probably works 95+% of the time, as it takes a certain amount of motivation and effort to actually go through a small claim (even though it is ridiculously simple these days). My wife told me she would never have bothered. So, they probably ultimately save a lot of money by doing this, even though it is annoying and nefarious.