A319
Human-Machine Interface; Communication Breakdown
Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Human Factors; Procedure
After departing Houston; and flying an assigned heading; we were assigned a clearance of direct MONNT. MONNT was not a fix on the route programmed in the MCDU. We stated this and asked the Controller to spell the fix. The Departure Controller queried us as to our assigned route. We believed our cleared route was the LEONA 7 (LOA7) departure; which was the filed route. He asked us then to verify we were cleared via the GIFFA 4 departure. After reviewing the PDC slip; we realized the filed route is printed just below the cleared route and was mistaken as the ATC clearance during preflight. ATC asked us to call a phone number upon landing to help clear up a systemic problem between Clearance and Departure control. ATC cleared us to a fix that was not on our planned route. The PDC slip was misinterpreted during MCDU programming. The format of the PDC should never contain both the filed AND cleared routes. The clearance slip should only have the cleared route printed on the PDC slip. This would eliminate any chance of confusion between cleared vs filed routes. Filing of flight plans using ATC preferred routing would also minimize the chance of receiving a clearance that differs from the filed flight plan.
A319 First Officer reports confusing the PDC filed SID with the cleared SID; which were both printed on the PDC; during FMGC programming. The error is discovered in flight when ATC clears the crew to a point that is not in the programmed route.