Narrative:

On the ground we were informed that our dispatcher wanted us to call him. Our dispatcher informed us that we were being re-routed to savannah instead of ZZZ and that he didn't have enough time to send us a new release and re-file us. Instead he said he would re-file us airborne. My first officer and I were spring loaded to receive the new clearance once airborne.prior to nav point diyab we received the ACARS message with the new flight plan and fuel burn for us to divert to sav. In my mind I was thinking that our dispatcher had re-filed us to sav and as pm I re-loaded the FMS to reflect the new routing...just past diyab I executed the new flight plan and called memphis center on the radio for them to confirm the new routing. My first officer then said 'I think we need to stay on our original route until given a new clearance from memphis center'. My original paradigm shifted; realized we needed to fly the original route first and re-file ourselves. My first officer pushed heading select to witos and I changed the box back to the original routing. The heading deviation to rmg (the diversion routing from dispatch) was approximately 40 degrees and did not seem to last more than 30 seconds to less than a minute. I called memphis center and asked them if they knew about our diversion to sav. The controller responded no and told us to stand by. He then issued our re-filed flight plan request and then told me to call for a possible flight deviation. Once on the ground in sav I called and talked with an FAA rep and he talked with me for several minutes about the lateral deviation of heading. I explained the whole situation with him; including my dispatcher saying 'I'm going to refile you in the air and send you a new burn and release numbers' and the fact that I misunderstood what he meant by that. Big time expectation; mission and goal orientation plus inexperience working with the dispatcher and ATC given this scenario. Regardless of what the dispatcher says regarding 'I'll re-file you in the air'; maintain the original clearance until contacting ATC to ask for a new clearance to the diversion airport...

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 flight crew was advised prior to departure their destination was going to be SAV; but the Dispatcher did not have time to make the changes prior to the scheduled departure time and a new flight plan would be sent enroute. When the flight plan was received the crew entered and executed it without advising ATC. This was a complete surprise to the controller involved whose report was included.

Narrative: On the ground we were informed that our Dispatcher wanted us to call him. Our dispatcher informed us that we were being re-routed to Savannah instead of ZZZ and that he didn't have enough time to send us a new release and re-file us. Instead he said he would re-file us airborne. My First Officer and I were spring loaded to receive the new clearance once airborne.Prior to Nav Point DIYAB we received the ACARS message with the new flight plan and fuel burn for us to divert to SAV. In my mind I was thinking that our Dispatcher had re-filed us to SAV and as PM I re-loaded the FMS to reflect the new routing...just past DIYAB I executed the new flight plan and called Memphis Center on the radio for them to confirm the new routing. My First Officer then said 'I think we need to stay on our original route until given a new clearance from Memphis Center'. My original paradigm shifted; realized we needed to fly the original route first and re-file ourselves. My First Officer pushed heading select to WITOS and I changed the box back to the original routing. The heading deviation to RMG (the diversion routing from Dispatch) was approximately 40 degrees and did not seem to last more than 30 seconds to less than a minute. I called Memphis Center and asked them if they knew about our diversion to SAV. The controller responded No and told us to stand by. He then issued our re-filed flight plan request and then told me to call for a possible flight deviation. Once on the ground in SAV I called and talked with an FAA Rep and he talked with me for several minutes about the lateral deviation of heading. I explained the whole situation with him; including my dispatcher saying 'I'm going to refile you in the air and send you a new burn and release numbers' and the fact that I misunderstood what he meant by that. Big time expectation; mission and goal orientation plus inexperience working with the Dispatcher and ATC given this scenario. Regardless of what the Dispatcher says regarding 'I'll re-file you in the air'; maintain the original clearance until contacting ATC to ask for a new clearance to the diversion airport...

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.