By CHRISTINE VAN DUSEN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/19/05

Take a close look at your fork the next time you go out to eat in Atlanta, and you may notice something interesting etched on the underside of the handle: the words "Delta Air Lines."

No, Delta isn't trying to better its bottom line by branching into the cutlery business.

The company was forced to take metal tableware off its planes after the Sept. 11 tragedy turned forks and knives into dangerous contraband. Now the utensils, along with those from other airlines, are appearing at local eateries. That's taking some customers by surprise.

"You usually kind of expect a restaurant to have its own logo on its tableware," said Andy Bowen, a public relations executive who recently dined at Zucca Bar and Pizzeria in Smyrna with a friend and his nephew.

"We all realized, 'Hey, you knew the airlines had to quit using metal tableware after 9/11, but you never really wondered where it all went,' " he said. "Well, right there it was, at least some of it."

Delta switched to heavy plasticware for its Business Elite passengers and sold the metal knives and forks to a scrap metal company for an undisclosed amount. The scrap dealer, which Delta declined to name, later sold off the pieces.

The owners of Zucca bought 500 forks and 250 knives. The engraving on the forks is small, about as largeas the words in a newspaper article. On the knives, the etching is barely visible near the flat edge of the blade.

"We didn't buy any spoons," said Zucca co-owner Bubba Carver. "Spoons aren't weapons, I don't think."

Tom Lambrou, owner of the Landmark Diner, bought "maybe 50 to 100 boxes, maybe a couple hundred dozens" of Delta and Continental Airlines flatware for his restaurants. "It was half-price," he said. "Usually it's about $7 or $8 for a dozen, and we paid $4."

Did Delta realize a big profit from the sale, and was this one of the ways the company was able to narrowly avoid bankruptcy in the fall?

Benet J. Wilson, a Delta spokeswoman, laughed. "Uh, no."