Personal opinion only here...
The airline route, while perilous in the beginning regarding regionals, normally provides a higher upside potential. There is a defined route from newbie regional FO to major wide body CA with all the associated bumps along the road. That's not to say that there is not a corporate job that pays well, with defined days off, etc. as there are some. The path to a top tier corporate job with major airline pay, days off, and bennies is a little more cloudy than the airline path. Networking pays a much, much larger role than the airlines and honestly the job is a lot different. I've done Part 135 charter in the past and can honestly say that I much prefer the airline side. Much more predictably and defined job responsibilities. No pagers on days off and bosses telling you to go fly or else. I'm an 8th yr major pilot and will gross 130k this year while averaging 18 days off per month. All the majors provide a B fund style retirement or a 401k match that puts anywhere from 13-18% of your W2 earnings in a stable retirement fund, fully separate from the company (ours is a TRowe Price account). Again to reiterate I'm sure there are some great corporate jobs out there. However, the major airline CA position is still the holy grail of all aviation jobs. The current contract bargaining cycle and current/future retirements has the airline side set to reap large gains given back after 9/11.