Tried Kennedy Approach for C64...
... and found it incredibly addicting. It's my first attempt at playing an ATC game and I keep coming back to it. I looked around for modern alternatives, but they seem a bit too complicated for my tastes. KA hits the sweet spot, because it's very simple to learn (almost "arcadey") and yet though to play. I wasn't expecting it. Was it popular back in the day?
Yes. It was popular. Unusual to have that much speech. My buddy and I still throw random quotes from it around.
Have you tried Mini Airways? There’s a free demo on Steam.
Not yet. I have mini metro though. Very similar but somewhat different feeling. It's probably the closest thing.