Originally Posted by irishguy28

You are thinking about this the wrong way.

You first of all concluded a contract with AFKL to get you from BLL to JFK. Part of your obligation under that contract is to present yourself at check-in and boarding at BLL at a certain time.

Then, you separately went and concluded a separate contract with AFKL, to get you from NCE(-CDG?)-AMS-BLL. Crucially, AFKL are not subject to the same standard of getting you to BLL at exactly the time mentioned on your ticket.

You will probably find that AFKL would not sell you the NCE(-CDG?)-AMS-BLL-AMS-JFK routing you are now attempting to travel upon. That you go and purchase this routing anyway, on a second ticket, doesn't mean that the airline must now assume any extra responsibilities to you. The way you booked this means you have an obligation, first of all, to be at NCE for check-in and boarding at a certain time; you also have an obligation to be at BLL for check-in and boarding at a certain time on the second, separate ticket. That AFKL may fail to get you to BLL in time to observe this second deadline is not their responsibility - it is entirely yours, by specifically buying this as two separate tickets. If AFKL fail to get you to BLL on time, there may arise an opportunity to claim something under EC261/2004 for the late arrival; however, any additional plans (even if with the same airline, on a separate ticket) are in no way referenced here, and you will lose the entire second ticket if you don't get yourself there on time.

There are limits to what is possible, and such a routing appears to be asking for trouble. If the airline won't sell you that exact routing on those exact flights, then you cannot plead "customer friendliness" or "flexibility". It is entirely your choice to book flights in this manner, in a way that is risky and looks likely to lead to problems. It is wrong to expect the airline to take on the responsibility for a failure in a ticket booked in a way that the airline itself wouldn't condone or sell.

I would advise you to work on getting out of your obligations in NCE and ensure you are back in BLL in good time for your ticket. As your ticket requires you to be at BLL in time to check-in and board that flight, it is entirely your responsibility to ensure that you are there. Neither AFKL, nor any other airline that you may select to get you to BLL, will have any obligation to you should you miss your BLL-JFK ticket. It is unlikely that most travel insurance policies would also cover you in this "separate ticket" scenario; but in any case, that would require you to pay out for a new ticket on the day, and attempt to claim this back later