Don't know which routes you were on... or when... but our load factors increased practically every month from the onset, breaking all company and industry projections and matrices for a start up airline.
Sure we had some empty's in the begining, growing pains and all. I remember having an offline jumpseater in my JS a few months ago from AUS-JAX. He said he was on the innaugural AUS-JAX flight and he was the only one... to make matters worse... he was a Jumpseater so it was a totally non-revenue flight. However, he was actually pleased to be sitting in the JS several months later and seeing the success of the airlines popularity.
Service was pretty darn awesome too... don't know what "biscuits" you are referring to... but our menu selections ranged the gambit from:
-Pasta marinara
-Teriyaki pasta
-Pasta Pesto
-Ham and cheese
-Turkey and swiss
-Peanut Butter and Jelly
-Meatball subs
-Italian subs
-Salami and cheese
-Pacific beef
-Chicken Wraps
-etc.
Followed with a full beverage service of much more than just "Coke" as you suggested, in addition to $1 beers and $3 wines/drinks.
Followed yet again by a snack service that typcially included:
-Snackwells
-Milano's
-Cheese Nips
-Honey Grahams
-Wheat Thins
-Oreo snacks
-Pretzels
-Peanuts
-etc.
XM volume was an issue in the beginning and as a result they changed headsets from the "over the ear" ones to the "in the ear" ones. Also... if you had your own headset... then the quality was typically much better. After all... the headsets we handed out were... free. Yet another "service" we provided.
Almost forgot... free pillows and blankets too.
Obviously, you can't please everyone all the time... you are a prime example of that. But... the point to point service we provided helped so many families, business travellers, and commuters alike. The compliments we got, and continue to get, always kept me motivated.
Aircraft economics and management decisions aside... still one of the best "service" related airlines out there.
Bob