system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Matrix] Why the inconsistent crew requirements for hovercrafts?

In the first movie, Neo awakens to a fully crewed ship. 6-7 people minimum, all busy working with the ship. DUring the course of the movie, it drops to four (including Neo). 

Never again does the ship require more people than that. Also, Captain Naomi's ship only needs three (if you played the game that's tied into the movie sequel). In the sequel, Morpheus doesn't even bother replacing his crew other than Link as an Operator. 

So how many people does a ship require, anyway?
gpt
Pilot, operator, mechanic is the bare minimum for a ship to operate normally (flight, maintenance, and Matrix access). Could get by with a pilot only (risky/suicide mission in the Real World). Could get by with a pilot &amp; operator if your mission requires jacking in. 

Other than that, smaller ships (scouts like the Logos) need smaller crews. The Hammer is a huge gunship and requires gunners and a medic to run smoothly. Nebuchadnezzar is somewhere in between.

As the war went on, qualified replacements were not really available. Death/lack of training/etc. Had to get by with skeleton crews. Especially the Neb - who is going to willingly join up with that fanatic Morpheus??