Stressed... Flying 4 cats w/2 people NY -> TX. Possible?
 

Of the major airlines, Southwest has the most liberal in-cabin pet rules. They have a limit of one carrier per passenger but allow two animals per carrier, so you could bring all four on one flight between the two of you if they'd fit into two carriers - maybe one of the larger ones plus one of the smaller ones per bag?

Note carefully the maximum dimensions per carrier and make certain that two cats really could safely fit into one carrier.

We have a British Shorthair, and I would never fly with her. She has the classic BSH nose, wheezes and snuffles, and gets congested on the ground, I hate to think how much trouble she'd have trying to breath at 30,000 feet. Do your Abys have narrow noses? I know some narrow nose Siamese have trouble w/ flying.

Two of my cats have logged more than 11,000 miles in the car, cross country CA-PA, car trips to FL, New England and Canada, etc. It's much easier to travel by car with cats than most people imagine. There's a number of older posts in this forum with good info on car travel for cats.

My parents have had cats for over 40 years now and have always relocated them by car when they moved. Cats will be more stressed flying because of the many factors you may not think of. The noise of the plane - engines, beverage carts, many people talking over each other, etc... The pressurization and depressurization as well as the change of pressure while climbing and descending will take a toll on the animal as well as it would be something they never experienced before and would not know how to handle it (like a baby). Being cooped up inside a kennel all that time whereas you can let the cat out in the car and let it roam, find a comfortable space to sleep as it would most likely do as you drive.

So I would suggest that you actually drive versus flying the kittys instead.

Cabin pressure in Boeing 737NGs and Airbus A32x jets (which is what one will likely fly on on this route) is regulated to maintain a 'cabin altitude' of 8,000 ft.

According to U.S. government charts, the altitude at our house 347 ft above sea level and our brachycephalic British Shorthair wheezes, has breathing problems if she's stressed. Much of Yellowstone National Park is at 8000 ft, and, I human with a normal nose, had trouble with shortness of breath there.

Here's a fairly recent articleon airline policies regarding brachycephalic pets, which can include British Shorthair cats.