Black-owned Polymedia won LAX’s FlyAway bus account in 1975

Polymedia, a Black-owned advertising agency founded by Bob Dockery Jr. and Lee Triggs, won a competitive 1975 contract to launch the Los Angeles Department of Airports’ Van Nuys-to-LAX bus service. The campaign helped turn FlyAway into a lasting airport transit brand and showed how political access could open city contracts to minority firms.

Why it matters: - Polymedia’s win gave a Black-owned agency a rare chance to compete for a major public contract in an era when minority firms were often shut out. - The campaign helped establish the FlyAway name, which is still used today for LAX’s airport transit service. - The account became an early example of how civic pressure and political support could create business opportunities for minority-owned firms.

What happened: - In 1975, Polymedia won a one-year contract to create and launch a campaign for the Los Angeles Department of Airports bus service between Van Nuys and LAX. - Polymedia was led by President Bob Dockery Jr. and Vice President Lee Triggs, who founded the agency in the early 1970s. - The agency beat nine other agencies for the LAX account, all of them white-owned. - The win was covered by the Los Angeles Times in an article titled “A FlyAway Success Story,” by J.K. Obatala.

The details: - Polymedia’s campaign featured a radio jingle recorded by pop singer Carla Thomas. - The jingle aired on KGIL, KABC and KFWB. - The message told drivers to leave their cars behind and “Be a FlyAway Rider.” - Two weeks after launch, the Los Angeles Times reported that the buses were averaging more than 300 passengers a day. - The same report said the goal was 1,000 daily passengers within a month. - Polymedia catered heavily to the Black consumer market but also handled general-market creative work with a multicultural team. - The agency’s clients included Host International, Continental Airlines, the California Nurses Association and Golden Oaks Furniture. - The Department of Airports’ public and community relations director, Peggy G. Hereford, said the decision rested largely on Dockery and Triggs’ enthusiasm and Polymedia’s performance record.

Between the lines: - In the 1970s, Black-owned businesses rarely got access to city contracts, and bids from minority firms often received serious consideration only when white firms did not compete. - The path to the contract started with R. E. “Bob” Collins, an Airport Commission member appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley, who organized a January seminar called “How to Do Business in LAX.” - Dockery and Triggs learned about the new bus service through the Black Businessmen Association. - Collins told attendees that at least one minority ad agency should be given the chance to bid on the contract. - Triggs framed the win as an early DEI opportunity and said the campaign helped create a branding legacy that lasted 50 years. - Dockery said the team prepared as if it had already won the account, reflecting the higher standard Black professionals often faced.

What’s next: - Dockery said advertising has changed dramatically since 1975, with far more diversity now visible across race, gender and sexual orientation. - The FlyAway brand remains in use, extending the impact of the original campaign far beyond the one-year contract.

The bottom line: - Polymedia’s 1975 FlyAway win was both a business breakthrough and a lasting piece of LAX branding history.