Julia Gillard has intervened to force Qantas planes back into the air, last night making an emergency application for Fair Work Australia to order an end to all industrial action.

After the snap grounding of all planes by the company at 5pm yesterday to implement a lockout of staff taking industrial action, the Gillard government last night evoked emergency powers under Section 424 of the Fair Work Act.

It asked the industrial umpire to order planes back in the air and staff back to work ahead of compulsory arbitration at a late-night hearing in Melbourne.

As the long-running stoush suddenly escalated into the nation's biggest industrial dispute since the waterfront confrontation, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese was clearly furious at the decision to ground the entire Qantas fleet and give just three hours' notice to government.

''The government is extremely concerned for the future of Qantas, its workforce and also the travelling public,'' he declared. ''We will at all times be making sure that the travelling public's interests are upheld in this.''