FWIW, it is not happening with all MacBook Airs connecting via USB-C
hubs. There are many more that are not having any problems. This
leads me to believe that there are more than normal flaws with
USB-C ports. As a matter of fact, there have been a whole variety
of "flaws" with the USB-C ports across all M1 devices. There have
been several reports on the MacMini community of TB/USB-C ports
that have become non-functional. Several have been noted to
have various USB-C docks used with the port failure.
I guess this is what can happen when you try to have a single
interface support 4 different standards with 3-6 different variations
of each one and literal thousands of different devices from
a myriad of manufacturers with varying degrees of quality control
that plug into that port.