Taking control over from the tower during landings is a great idea IMO, and can be done real-time. I was just arguing against automatically switching to autopilot.
Completely pausing the game while giving orders is a bit against my taste (it's a sim, anyway, not a Total War battle), but the option is still there (I have a difficulty option in mind) to enable commands while the game is paused (like in a Total War battle).
