Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the heads of all Indian airlines for a meeting on Saturday to discuss ways to help the cash-strapped carriers and to resolve other industry issues.

It will be the Prime Minister’s first meeting with airline chiefs in recent years. “The meeting has been called to resolve the airlines’ financial health and discuss the issues in general,” said an official who will be at the meeting as per a report in the Mint by Tarun Shukla

The invite from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) came on Wednesday and the meeting was firmed up on Thursday. Jet Airways (India) Ltd’s Naresh Goyal, InterGlobe Aviation Pvt. Ltd’s Rahul Bhatia, and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd’s Vijay Mallya are expected at the meeting.

“All the promoters have been called. All the airlines are losing money. If something is not done...everyone will fall by the wayside,” said a second official. “It’s at the highest levels and the first such in recent memory.”