Narrative:

We were flight planned for the [arrival into ZZZ.] this was entered and verified in the FMC prior to pushback. We received our pre departure clearance (pre-departure clearance) 30 minutes prior to push and it stated 'direct ZZZ' removing the [arrival name.] this took us several minutes to decipher; since the pre departure clearance formatting for route changes is so incredibly difficult to read and understand; especially in the cockpit just prior to push with all the typical distractions going on. The filed route should not be included; just the changes. In fact the only thing a pre departure clearance with changes to the routing should be the cleared route; nothing else.the ca (captain) was thankfully suspicious of what was eventually going to happen on departure; so we did not do a route copy after loading the new route; ensuring the [original arrival] was left in the FMC.takeoff was uneventful and as suspected we were cleared by departure direct to zzzzz to then the [arrival into ZZZ] as originally filed. So the whole event was an exercise in confusing the flight crew. Well it didn't work; since the ca was ready for ATC. Pilots 1; ATC 0.in all seriousness; the formatting of a pre departure clearance changing the routing need to be addressed. Ever since the pre departure clearance program first started in the 90s (has it been that long?!) pdcs with a changed routing have included the filed route. Why? Once a clearance change has been made the filed routing is just a distracter with no bearing on the flight anymore. I know this has been the subject of numerous reports.reformat the pre departure clearance.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B787 First Officer reported that PDC clearances are confusing and should be reformatted.

Narrative: We were flight planned for the [arrival into ZZZ.] This was entered and verified in the FMC prior to pushback. We received our PDC (Pre-Departure Clearance) 30 minutes prior to push and it stated 'DIRECT ZZZ' removing the [arrival name.] This took us several minutes to decipher; since the PDC formatting for route changes is so incredibly difficult to read and understand; especially in the cockpit just prior to push with all the typical distractions going on. The filed route should not be included; just the changes. In fact the only thing a PDC with changes to the routing should be the cleared route; nothing else.The CA (Captain) was thankfully suspicious of what was eventually going to happen on departure; so we did not do a route copy after loading the new route; ensuring the [original arrival] was left in the FMC.Takeoff was uneventful and as suspected we were cleared by Departure direct to ZZZZZ to then the [arrival into ZZZ] as originally filed. So the whole event was an exercise in confusing the flight crew. Well it didn't work; since the CA was ready for ATC. Pilots 1; ATC 0.In all seriousness; the formatting of a PDC changing the routing need to be addressed. Ever since the PDC program first started in the 90s (has it been that long?!) PDCs with a changed routing have included the filed route. Why? Once a clearance change has been made the filed routing is just a distracter with no bearing on the flight anymore. I know this has been the subject of numerous reports.Reformat the PDC.

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.