Narrative:

Earlier in the trip; the first officer was rushing; and executed FMC navigation changes before I had a chance to verify them. I asked him to slow down and give me a chance to verify before he executed changes and he accommodated my request. I also noted that the first officer was doing what almost all company pilots do when an altitude change came in. He dialed in the new altitude on the MCP (mode control panel); pointed at it; stated it and began the climb or descent with no input from the other pilot. I did not counsel him about this because that is so commonly the way altitude changes are handled; despite guidance to the contrary in the manual.on the flight in question; we were on an assigned heading when the controller cleared us direct stl and a climb to FL390. As I read back the clearance; I observed the first officer dial 39;000 feet in the MCP (control display unit); point at it and state 'three nine oh;' and press the altitude intervention button. I verified that FL390 came up as the target altitude on the mcdu. While I was verifying that the aircraft was beginning to climb; the first officer brought up stl on the FMC legs page 1. I verified the programing was correct and stated; 'that looks good' and watched him execute the change. I took my attention back to the altitude and could see by then that the aircraft was beginning a climb and the thrust was increasing. I never confirmed that the first officer selected LNAV or that the aircraft turned toward stl. A few minutes later; the controller called and pointed out our error. We then took the proper procedural steps to get the aircraft on course to stl.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier First Officer reported course deviation because he did not notice the nonflying pilot not execute an assigned route from ATC.

Narrative: Earlier in the trip; the First Officer was rushing; and executed FMC navigation changes before I had a chance to verify them. I asked him to slow down and give me a chance to verify before he executed changes and he accommodated my request. I also noted that the First Officer was doing what almost all Company Pilots do when an altitude change came in. He dialed in the new altitude on the MCP (Mode Control Panel); pointed at it; stated it and began the climb or descent with no input from the other Pilot. I did not counsel him about this because that is so commonly the way altitude changes are handled; despite guidance to the contrary in the manual.On the flight in question; we were on an assigned heading when the Controller cleared us direct STL and a climb to FL390. As I read back the clearance; I observed the First Officer dial 39;000 feet in the MCP (Control Display Unit); point at it and state 'three nine oh;' and press the Altitude Intervention button. I verified that FL390 came up as the target altitude on the MCDU. While I was verifying that the aircraft was beginning to climb; the First Officer brought up STL on the FMC LEGS Page 1. I verified the programing was correct and stated; 'That looks good' and watched him execute the change. I took my attention back to the altitude and could see by then that the aircraft was beginning a climb and the thrust was increasing. I never confirmed that the First Officer selected LNAV or that the aircraft turned toward STL. A few minutes later; the Controller called and pointed out our error. We then took the proper procedural steps to get the aircraft on course to STL.

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.